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 DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY CONSORTIUM

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