Slides on the need to move from temporary, issue-driven public engagement efforts to stronger civic infrastructure

1. CIVIC ENGAGEMENT TODAY:
STRENGTHS, LIMITS, OPPORTUNITIES
Matt Leighninger
Presentation to the San Diego Foundation
January 16, 2013

2. THE DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY CONSORTIUM

3. THE CONTEXT:
HOW HAVE CITIZENS* CHANGED?
 More educated
 More skeptical – different
attitudes toward authority
 Have less time to spare
 Better able to find
resources, allies,
information
* “citizens” = residents,
people

4. THE CONTEXT:
FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN
 Have the most at stake in community success
 More motivation to engage, but even less time
 Want to engage in community, not just politics

5. THE CONTEXT: INCREASED USE OF THE INTERNET

6. THREE MINUTES AT THE MICROPHONE
Retrieved from Cincinnati.com, July 27, 2012

7. SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: PROACTIVE RECRUITMENT
 Map community networks;
 Involve leaders of those networks;
 „Who is least
likely to
participate?‟
 Use online as
well as f2f
connections;
 Follow up!

8. SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: SMALL-GROUP PROCESSES
 No more than 12 people per group;
 Facilitator who is impartial (doesn‟t give
opinions);
 Start with people
describing their
experiences;
 Lay out options;
 Help people plan
for action.

9. SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: FRAMING AN ISSUE
 Give people the information they need, in ways
they can use it
 Lays out several options or views (including
ones you don‟t agree with)
 Trust them
to make good
decisions

10. SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: ENCOURAGING CITIZEN ACTION

13. SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: ONLINE TOOLS
Particularly good for:
 Providing background information
 Data gathering by citizens
 Generating and
ranking ideas
 Helping people
visualize options
 Maintaining
connections
over time

14. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

15. STRENGTHS OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
 Making policy decisions, plans, budgets
 Catalyzing citizen action
 Building trust, fostering new leadership
 Connections = disaster preparedness
 Attachment = economic vitality

16. LIMITATIONS OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (AS
WE PRACTICE IT TODAY)
 Lots of work for temporary gain
 Inefficient – every organization on its own
 Community moves back to „politics as usual‟
 „Engagers‟ set the agenda, not the „engaged‟
 Limited impact on equity
 Laws on participation out
of step with practices
 Not well measured or
benchmarked

17. WHAT IS CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE?
The regular opportunities, activities,
and arenas that allow people to
connect with each other, solve
problems, make decisions, and be
part of a community.

19. “PORTSMOUTH LISTENS”
PORTSMOUTH, NH
 Ongoing process since 2000
 Several hundred participants each time
 Addressed a number of major policy
decisions: bullying in schools, school
redistricting, city‟s master plan, balancing city
budget, whether to build new middle school

20. JANE ADDAMS SCHOOL FOR DEMOCRACY
WEST SIDE OF ST. PAUL, MN
 50-200 people in “neighborhood learning
circles” every month since 1998
 Involves recent Hmong, Latino, Somali
immigrants
 Young people involved in circles and other
activities
 Cultural exchanges - food, crafts, storytelling
 Has resulted in new
projects, initiatives,
festivals, and change
in INS policy

21. PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING IN BRAZILIAN CITIES
 Commitment from gov‟t to adopt budget;
 Wide range of ways to be involved;
 A carnival
atmosphere;
 Started small,
now huge –
60,000+ people

22. NEW MODEL ORDINANCE ON PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION
Available at www.deliberative-democracy.net
Developed as a collaboration of:

24. BUILDING BLOCKS FOR CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE

25. BUILDING BLOCK:
Helping
neighborhood and
school groups
become more
- effective
- inclusive
- participatory

26. BUILDING BLOCK: HYPERLOCAL ONLINE
FORUMS
More sustained
Larger, more diverse numbers of people
Easier for „engagers‟ – recruitment doesn‟t have to start
from scratch
More open to ideas from the „engaged‟

27. DIGITAL DIVIDES (PLURAL)
 Overall, Internet access growing
 “Access” – to Internet, to government – has
never been enough
 Different people use different hardware
 Different people go to different places on the
Internet
 Communities just as complex online as off –
recruitment must be proactive

28. BUILDING BLOCK: CIVIC INDICATORS
1. Capture more of the basic data
2. Use databases
3. Establish „mid-level‟ indicators to
connect basic data with „metadata‟ like
Soul of the Community
4. Be transparent – and think about ways to
allow people to contribute and analyze
data

29. BUILDING BLOCK: YOUTH LEADERSHIP

30. DON‟T FORGET: FUN
“Sometimes you need a meeting that
is also a party. Sometimes you need
a party that is also a meeting.”
─ Gloria Rubio-Cortès, National
Civic League

32. SLIDES AVAILABLE AT:
WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/MATTLEIGHNINGER
GUIDES:
HTTP://BIT.LY/PSLDNLC
HTTP://BIT.LY/IWJGQN

33. RESOURCES
www.participedia.net
www.deliberative-democracy.net
www.soulofthecommunity.org
www.everydaydemocracy.org
www.publicagenda.org
www.kettering.org

34. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?