Leading Change Experiments in Modern Democratic Governance

By Alexander D. Moll Lecture, April 1, 2010

Christopher Newport University

Career Mission: Deliver sustainable results that help clients solve systemic challenges of administrative governance at the intersection of technology, information, culture, and operations to advance institutional change.

Themes

  Exceptional quality of government effectiveness in services, protection and the security of rights.

  Accountability via public participation that clarifies public will, transparency that builds trust, and collaboration that strengthens America’s ability to serve the public interest.

  5 years involved with small and large-scale high-quality public participation & government consulting

  1,000+ participants to date

  Projects – domestic and international policy questions

  Linking public will and political will for better public policy

  Other expertise: problem solving, strategic planning, project management, effective meetings, technical writing, business analysis, etc.

My background

Problem with Public Policy Making

PROCESS Absence of effective operations for decision making, problem solving and production.   Need exploration, conflict resolution, decision-making, and collaborative work groups among leaders and the public.

  Synchronized, coordinated, inclusive, comprehensive strategic decision-making and communication schedules.

TECHNOLOGY Absence of leveraged software to facilitate both effective clarification of public will and strategic policy problem solving.   Communication and resolution of public will to political will.

PLACE Absence of space for dialogue, deliberation, & problem solving.   Need sustainable traditions of deliberative & collaborative democracy in civil society and workplace.

  Applying the design process.   Collective intelligence in policy-making.

PEOPLE Absence of leadership at all levels.   Need add. education and training.

  Self-awareness.   Synthesizing disparate information toward understanding.   Convening.   Problem solving (design, creativity + technology).

Key Distinction  Government – organization or agency that

exercises authority and law   goal is excellent customer service through policy or admin.   maintenance of basic security

 Governance - creating opportunities for input and influence on policy and decision making   "governance" is what a "government" does   define expectations, grants power or verifies performance   administer services through managed systems   goal is empowering and protecting rights of citizens

Rubric of Effective Governance •  Place

–  Architecture –  Transnational

•  People –  Leadership –  Citizenship

•  Process –  Work Process –  Data Flow

•  Technology –  Relationship bldg. –  Problem-solving

• Software & Hardware

• Decision making

• Work Culture & Civil Society

• Work Environ.

Place People

Tech. Process

Deepening our Democracy

“I believed that if we were ever going to make our society more participatory, more democratic, then everyone had to feel he or she had a stake in the process. Everyone had to know in no uncertain terms that what he or she say and

think and do matters and counts. Only then would people from all walks of life be inspired to articulate their

worldview and expand their horizons by engaging in the complementary pursuits of knowledge and human

excellence.” -- Christopher Phillips, PhD

Definitions

Civic [L. civicus citizen]

  Civics: a social science dealing with the rights and duties of citizens.

  Civil: Of, relating to, or involving the general public, their activities, needs, or ways, or civic affairs as distinguished from special (as military or religious) affairs.

  Conclusion: General citizenship. Examples?

Civic Engagement

  Definition.

Excerpts from Civic Responsibility and Higher Education, edited by Thomas Ehrlich, published by Oryx Press, 2000.

Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes. - Preface, page vi

A morally and civically responsible individual recognizes himself or herself as a member of a larger social fabric and therefore considers social problems to be at least partly his or her own; such an individual is willing to see the moral and civic dimensions of issues, to make and justify informed moral and civic judgments, and to take action when appropriate. - Introduction, page xxvi

Principles for Effective Community Engagement

  Linked to Decision Makers

  Diverse Representation

  Informed Participation

  Facilitated Deliberation

  Discover Shared Priorities

  Clear Recommendations for Action

  Sustaining Citizen Engagement

Why Citizen (Community) Engagement is Critical

1.  Engagement in decision-making is something governments should welcome.

2.  Engagement in policy formulation and decision-making can reduce conflict.

3.  Engagement can lead to better, longer lasting, and wiser policy choices with better outcomes.

4.  Engagement builds citizen competence.

5.  Engagement cultivates mutual understanding, builds trust and changes in political attitudes or behavior for both citizens and decision-makers.

Deliberative Democracy

  Definition.

What is "deliberative democracy"? Deliberative democracy strengthens citizen voices in governance by including people of all races, classes, ages and geographies in deliberations that directly affect public decisions. As a result, citizens influence--and can see the result of their influence on--the policy and resource decisions that impact their daily lives and their future (The Deliberative Democracy Consortium definition).

Deliberative democracy is a term used by some political theorists, to refer to any system of political decisions based on some tradeoff of consensus decision making and representative democracy. In contrast to the traditional theory of democracy, which emphasizes voting as the central institution in democracy, deliberative democracy theorists argue that legitimate lawmaking can only arise from the public deliberation of the citizenry (Wikipedia definition).

The Agora of Ancient Athens at Height of Classical Greek Age (638-322 B.C.)

The Bouleuterion The Ecclesia