I am studying an online course called Engaging
Citizens: A Game Changer for Development? and trying to blog as
I go. Although the course is focussed on international development, I want to
try to apply the ideas to UK politics (both national and local) and also to
student engagement in higher education.
Here are my thoughts on week 2:
Public engagement in policy making is the key to unlocking
citizen capacities within government decision-making. Thick engagement tactics
involve large number of people, in small groups, learning, deciding and acting.
They are intensive, informed and deliberative (e.g. town hall meetings, wikis,
participatorial budgeting). Thin engagement tactics are faster, easier, more
viral (e.g. petitions, facebook likes). Best approach is probably a combination
of both tactics. A large critical mass of participants is usually crucial for
affecting policy.
How does participation improve policy making?
1) People become more informed about issues
2) Engagement can bridge divides
3) Engagement increases the accountability of elected officials
4) Sustained engagement (global south) is generally better than
temporary engagement (global north)
Reflection: UK political campaigns tend to use thin tactics (e.g. 38
degrees petitions) but is that because the thick tactics are less visible to
me? I'm not sure what happens in local politics - local petitions? In
higher education, focus groups can have huge impacts but are they
representative? Does anyone ever check unless they want to challenge the
outcomes?
Four questions to think about:
1) Who should participate and how will
participants be recruited? Recruitment strategies include promotions via
broadcast media, pro-actively via networks, and random lottery.
2) How will participants interact with each
other and with decision makers? One-way, two-way or deliberative? Features of
deliberative communication include being focused on problem solving, open and
accessible conversations, careful reflections, weighing alternatives, and
making decisions based on facts and values.
3) What information do participants need?
High quality information that contains context and history, is neutral and
objective, and includes all perspectives.
4) How will participation impact policy
decisions, problem-solving efforts, or other kinds of public action?
There is a spectrum of public participation:
Inform -> Consult -> Involve -> Collaborate -> Empower.
Six common participation scenarios: Inform
the public, gather feedback, generate new ideas, support volunteerism and problem-solving,
policy decisions, and plan a budget.
Reflection: National politics only
informs, local politics informs and consults, whilst higher education informs,
consults and involves. Basically, the smaller the population, the easier it is
to organise participation.
Video 3: Crowdsourcing Public Policy
What makes citizen engagement work?
1) Start with a problem.
2) Think of engagement as a way of expanding
the tool kit available to solve problems.
3) Don't only ask for opinions, ask for
suggestions.
4) Use citizens to gather data.
5) Consider task-based engagement.
6) Try crowdfunding.
7) Employees and civil servants can also be
engaged.
8) Share what you know by opening data.
9) Hold live events in real space.
10) Create incentives for people to
participate.
11) Implement what you learn.
12) Crowdsource wisely, not just
broadly.
Reflection: In the UK, national and local
governments rarely use any of the approaches. Where there is engagement, it is
always about opinions and not solutions. That is also true for political
parties. When I used to organise student engagement activities in a students'
union, I used two of the approaches at most. My current employer (a university)
does try staff engagement (not just staff surveys but also Dragons' Den style
events) but I don't know how effective they are.
Video 4: Why People Participate
Most theories relating to
participation are based on the rational choice approach - people will only
participate when the benefits of participating (the outcomes of event) are
greater than the costs of participating (material and opportunity costs).
People are more likely to participate if they can see that participating makes
a difference. However, knowing that participation makes a difference is not the
only factor determining participation. Studies have shown that online
participation lowers the cost of participation and increases participation by
previously unengaged citizens (e.g. younger). However there is a paradox of
increased participation by both lowered and increased costs! Therefore there
must be other factors that increase participation - thought to be "good
citizenship" and "a sense of belonging".
Techniques to increase participation:
1) Show results and communicate them,
2) Design multiple channels of
interaction,
3) Provide multi-tiers of
participation,
4) Get personal, target and customise,
5) Reinforce sense of civic duty and
collectiveness,
6) Get pre-commitment from
citizens,
7) Learn to experiment, and experiment to
learn.
Reflection: I knew most of the theory and
have certainly tried to apply the seven techniques when I could. In UK national
and local politics, it is generally left to the political parties to get out
their vote, rather than there being a general "please vote" campaign.
In student elections, it is also normally left to the candidates to get people
to vote. "None of the above" or "Re-open nominations"
options do not encourage people to vote. There should be centrally funded
campaigns to encourage voting.
Quiz
The MOOC includes weekly quizzes. There are ten questions. For my
first attempt, I took a closed book approach and got ten correct!
Previous MOOC blog posts:
No comments:
Post a Comment