1. STRATEGIES TO ENCOURAGE CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT
Rochester, NY
June 18th, 2014

2. THE DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY CONSORTIUM

3. 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

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
Available free for download at BIT.LY/IWJGQN

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

7. “What drove me to try planned, structured
public engagement was my awful
experience with unplanned, unstructured
public engagement.”
─ John Nalbandian,
former mayor,
Lawrence, KS

8. TREATING CITIZENS LIKE ADULTS
Give them:
 Information
 Chance to tell their story
 Choices
 Legitimacy
 Chances to
take action
 Good process
 Food and fun!

9. 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!

10. 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.

11. 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

12. SUCCESSFUL TACTIC: ENCOURAGING CITIZEN ACTION

13. “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

16. “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

17. 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

18. DECATUR NEXT
DECATUR, GA

19. 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

20. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

21. HOW MUCH IS THE INTERNET CHANGING
HOW YOU DO ENGAGEMENT?

22. 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 online
as off

23. What online tools can do: Help
citizens gather data

24. What online tools can do: Help
people generate and rank ideas

25. What online tools can do: Help
people visualize options

26. What online
tools can do:
Help sustain
community
connections

27. COMMON MISTAKES
 Treating Internet as a one-way medium
 Not enough recruitment
 Transparency without proactive engagement
 Gathering ideas and not implementing them

28. STRENGTHS OF DELIBERATIVE ENGAGEMENT
 Making policy decisions, plans, budgets
 Catalyzing
citizen action
 Rebuilding
trust, fostering
new leadership

29. WHY SUSTAINED ENGAGEMENT?
Increases in:
 Trust
 Efficiency
 Equity
 Connectedness
…which increases:
 Economic growth
 Public health

30. TWO ASSUMPTIONS TO RECONSIDER
1. Government is the only problem-solver

31. TWO ASSUMPTIONS TO RECONSIDER
2. It is the job of
government
to sustain
participation

33. WORKING GROUP ON LEGAL
FRAMEWORKS FOR PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION

34.  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

35. Available free for download at BIT.LY/1F2MGAP/

36. 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

37.  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

38.  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

41. 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/IWJGQN
MAKING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION LEGAL –
BIT.LY/1F2MGAP

42. RESOURCES
www.icma.org
www.participedia.net
www.deliberative-democracy.net
www.everydaydemocracy.org
www.publicagenda.org
www.kettering.org

43. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?