aspa sustaining engagement session slides
TRANSCRIPT
SUSTAINING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IN GOVERNANCE:THEORY, LAW, AND PRACTICE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Lisa Blomgren Amsler, Indiana University, moderator
Terry Amsler, Institute for Local Government
Maria Hadden, Participatory Budgeting Project
Matt Leighninger, Deliberative Democracy Consortium
THICK PARTICIPATION: Informed, deliberative, emotional, full of choices for groups to make
THIN PARTICIPATION: Fast, easy, full of choices for individuals to make
TREATING CITIZENS LIKE ADULTS
Give them:
Information
Chance to tell
their story
Choices
Legitimacy
Chances to
take action
Good process
Food and fun!
THREE MINUTES AT THE MICROPHONE
Retrieved from Cincinnati.com, July 27, 2012
The status quo and default structure
No discussion outside the agenda
Oriented to getting comments in the record
Easy to disrupt
Even the physical layout makes people angry
THREE MINUTES AT THE MICROPHONE
STRENGTHS OF OCCASIONAL ENGAGEMENT
Making policy decisions, plans, budgets Catalyzing
citizen action Rebuilding
trust, fostering new leadership
LIMITATIONS OF OCCASIONAL ENGAGEMENT
Lots of work for temporary gain Inefficient – every organization on its own Community moves back to ‘politics as usual’
WHY SUSTAINED ENGAGEMENT?
Increases in:
Trust
Efficiency
Equity
Connectedness
…which increases:
Economic growth
Public health
Lower corruption
Lower inequality
Lower infant mortality
Higher trust in gov’t
Higher tax compliance
Higher completion rates for gov’t projects
Officials more likely to be reelected
LONG-TERM IMPACTS OF ENGAGEMENT IN
BRAZIL
Wampler and Touchton 2014, Peixoto 2014, Spada 2012
To belong
To have an impact
To have a legitimate voice
Those desires show up in thick and thin engagement…and sometimes thick and or thin helps people achieve them
WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT?