A group of leaders in college extension programs created a participatory group process designed to document the results of Extension educational efforts within complex, real-life settings. The method, known as Ripple Effect Mapping, uses elements of Appreciative Inquiry, mind mapping, and qualitative data analysis to engage program participants and other community stakeholders to reflect upon and visually map the intended and unintended changes produced by Extension programming. The result is not only a powerful technique to document impacts, but a way to engage and re-energize […] (continue)

The U.K.-based Democratic Society produced a white paper in association with Public-i Ltd., on how democratic engagement can help local government save money in a time of cuts. Executive summary: This is a time of fiscal pressure and service cuts. Councils are restructuring services and looking to cut back on non-essential areas of spending. Is democratic engagement one of those areas? Aside from the moral argument for democratic engagement, there is evidence that investment in strong democratic participation is important if reformed local government approaches are […] (continue)

What is the state of public participation in local government decision making in California? Two 2013 Public Agenda reports present the shared — and divergent — perspectives of public officials and the leaders of civic organizations on the issue. The research indicates: Public meetings often do not meet the needs of residents or local officials. Large segments of the public are often missing from the decision-making process — especially low-income populations, immigrants and young people. Local officials and civic leaders in California share concern for a […] (continue)

This study released on September 12, 2012 by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) shows that a strong civic foundation is directly linked to strengthening employment at the metropolitan, county, and state levels. Communities with better civic health have weathered the recent recession far better – and experienced considerably smaller increases in unemployment – than other communities that faced similar economic circumstances. The NCoC report, Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds, was produced in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, […] (continue)

Who says you can’t quantify public deliberation? It is true that quantitative measurement hasn’t been a strong suit of the field. It is also true that some of the most significant impacts, such as policy changes, are inherently difficult to quantify. But at this point, enough scholarly research and evaluative work has been done that is possible to pull together a concise statistical glimpse of the kinds of things these projects accomplish. Matt Leighninger, executive director of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (an NCDD organizational member) has done […] (continue)

In December 2012, Alberta Climate Dialogue released a series of short videos exploring the benefits of deliberative democracy, featuring well known practitioners such as Matt Leighninger (DDC), Janette Hartz-Karp (Curtin University), Edward Andersson (Involve UK) and others. These insightful snapshots of public engagement knowledge and case studies are a valuable resource for communicating deliberative democracy ideas to others. (continue)

The Public and Policy:  What Does the Public Have to Contribute ? How Can it Make that Contribution? is a follow-up report and a personal examination of the issues presented at  A Public Voice 2006 written by Philip D. Stewart. Find more details on the NIF website. From the report… Yet, although several thousand citizens participate in several hundred public forums across the United States each year, discussing critical national issues, citizens, by and large, still feel shut out of politics, and elected officials still find it nearly impossible to address pressing […] (continue)

This 2011 Issue Brief from the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) explores the relationship between civic engagement and economic resilience. It finds that five measures of civic engagement – attending meetings, helping neighbors, registering to vote, volunteering and voting – appear to help protect against unemployment and contribute to overall economic resilience. Note: An update to this research was released in September 2012. “Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds” is available at www.ncoc.net/unemployment2. (continue)

This 2011 “issue brief” published by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) explores the relationship between civic engagement and economic resilience. The report finds that five measures of civic engagement – attending meetings, helping neighbors, registering to vote, volunteering and voting – appear to help protect against unemployment and contribute to overall economic resilience. “Civic Health and Unemployment: Can Engagement Strengthen the Economy?” was released by NCoC in partnership with CIRCLE (the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement), Civic Enterprises, Saguaro Seminar, […] (continue)

In this economic climate, the value of public engagement needs to be articulated in economic terms. Involve’s toolkit demonstrates that you don’t need specialist skills or knowledge to make the business case for engagement. Download the July 2011 toolkit from Involve and Consumer Focus, Making the Case for Public Engagement: How to demonstrate the value of consumer input. Toolkit authors are Edward Andersson, Emily Fennell and Thea Shahrokh. There is a substantial amount of anecdotal evidence in support of public engagement and some case study […] (continue)