THE NEXT FORM OF DEMOCRACY:
HOW CITIZENS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ARE BUILDING NEW PARTNERSHIPS AND MOVING
BEYOND ADVERSITY
Matt Leighninger
Deliberative Democracy Consortium
Santa Rosa, CA
September 25, 2014
Presented by Santa Rosa Together, in partnership with:
THE CONTEXT FOR ENGAGEMENT: HOW HAVE CITIZENS* CHANGED?
More educated
More skeptical – different attitudes toward authority
Have less time to spare
Better able to find resources, allies, information (Internet)
* citizens = residents, people
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
THE CONTEXT: INCREASED USE OF THE INTERNET
Available free for download at BIT.LY/IWJGQN
THREE MINUTES AT THE MICROPHONE
Retrieved from Cincinnati.com, July 27, 2012
“What drove me to try planned, structured public engagement was my awful experience with unplanned, unstructured public engagement.”
─ John Nalbandian, former mayor, Lawrence, KS
TREATING CITIZENS LIKE ADULTS
Give them: Information Chance to tell their story Choices Legitimacy Chances to
take action Good process Food and fun!
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!
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.
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
SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING
Money that citizens decide how to spend A structured process – citizens research and
develop proposals Citizens vote on proposals Builds support for gov’t,
elected officials
SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: ONLINE TOOLS
Texting, Twitter, Facebook, Hootsuite, and beyond…
Particularly good for: Providing background information Data gathering by citizens Generating and
ranking ideas Helping people
visualize options Maintaining
connections over time
SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: ENCOURAGING CITIZEN ACTION
“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
SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: FUN
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
HOW TO SUSTAIN ALL THIS? (AND WHY?)
Increases in: Trust Efficiency Equity Connectedness…which increases: Economic growth Public health
TWO ASSUMPTIONS TO RECONSIDER
1. Government is the only problem-solver
TWO ASSUMPTIONS TO RECONSIDER
2. It is the job of government, acting alone, to sustain engagement
The regular opportunities,
activities, and arenas that
allow people to connect with
each other, solve problems,
make decisions, and be
part of a community.
Civic Infrastructure
3. Democratic decision-making and problem-solving
Creating Spaces
for Citizens
Building
Skills &
Capacity
Improving
Public
Decision-
Making and
Problem-
Solving
Building Blocks
WORKING GROUP ON LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION
Definition of public participation
No mandates – model is ADR
Principles for successful public participation
Possible use of commission or other agency at local government level
Best use: to start a discussion about how you want participation to work in your municipality
Local public participation ordinance
“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
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 changein INS policy
“CREATE BUCKHANNON” BUCKHANNON, WV Ongoing process since 2009
Weekly lunch, using open space process, called “Meet and Eat”
Have created a park, a weekly summer music festival and market, a city plan, various downtown improvements and safe biking and walking routes
“DECATUR NEXT” DECATUR, GA
What online tools can do:
Help sustain community
connections
SLIDES AVAILABLE AT:WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/MATTLEIGHNINGER
GUIDES:PLANNING FOR STRONGER LOCAL DEMOCRACY – BIT.LY/PSLDNLC USING ONLINE TOOLS TO ENGAGE THE PUBLIC– BIT.LY/IWJGQNMAKING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION LEGAL – BIT.LY/1F2MGAP
RESOURCES
www.icma.org
www.participedia.net
www.deliberative-democracy.net
www.everydaydemocracy.org
www.publicagenda.org
www.kettering.org
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
DIGITAL DIVIDES (PLURAL)
Overall, Internet access growing Different people use different hardware Different people
go to different places on the Internet
Communities just as complex onlineas off
What online tools can do: Help citizens gather data
What online tools can do: Help people generate and rank ideas
What online tools can do: Help people visualize options
COMMON MISTAKES
Treating Internet as a one-way medium Not enough recruitment Transparency without proactive engagement Gathering ideas and not implementing them
STRENGTHS OF OCCASIONAL ENGAGEMENT
Making policy decisions, plans, budgets Catalyzing
citizen action Rebuilding
trust, fostering new leadership
Broad and non-exclusive definition of public participation
No mandates – model is ADR
Principles for successful public participation
Possible use of commission or other agency at local government level
No reference to changing sunshine laws as usually a matter for state legislature
Best use: to start a discussion about how you want participation to work in your municipality
LOCAL PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ORDINANCE
Available free for download at BIT.LY/1F2MGAP/
Participation commissions or advisory boards can:
Develop multi-year participation plans
Develop guidelines on when/how participation should happen
Assess and evaluation current participation efforts
Provide annual report to council on status of participation
Help strengthen networks for recruitment
PUTTING THESE TACTICS TO USE: PARTICIPATION COMMISSIONS
AND ADVISORY BOARDS
Stronger networks, online and off, for recruitment and dissemination of information
Better use of social media to raise interest, discussion before and between meetings
Clear avenues for public to present ideas for the agenda
At the meeting (or as a pre-meeting), a format featuring small-group discussions
Proposed guideline: Electeds cannot vote, act, or make decisions until information from meeting is made public
PUTTING THESE TACTICS TO USE: BETTER FORMATS FOR PUBLIC
MEETINGS
Larger assumption to discuss: What is government’s role in supporting participation?
One office – or participation skills distributed throughout departments?
Training opportunities
Need for principles, protocols, and metrics to guide the work
PUTTING THESE TACTICS TO USE: PARTICIPATION STAFFING IN CITY
HALL