POLS206 WK9 - Citizen Involvement

what is the norm of citizenship

ppl should accept the legitimacy of the state and the rule of law

what are the four categories of citizenship norms? (DALTON)

participation

autonomy

social order

solidarity

participation

vote, active in voluntary organizations, active in politics

autonomy

form an independent opinion

social order

serve on a jury, obey laws, report crime, serve in military

solidarity

support people who are worse off

what is the theme of bowling alone?

everywhere you look, civic participation and solidarity is starting to disappear

• loss of third spaces

what is a result of the reduction in civic life?

people are becoming more individualized - its a self fulfilling prophecy

you only see the people immediately around you (bubble) which reinforces the models

a citizen on its own? a citizen amongst other citizens?

what is the range of public participation?

1. obtain public input into decisions taken elsewhere

2. share decision making with the public

3. alter the distribution of power and structures of decision making

what are the degrees of non participation (1,2) in Arnstein’s Ladder?

manipulation

therapy (people’s opinions are seen as important, only as far as they reflect broader public opinion to stop it from spiralling out of control- keep ppl reasonably happy)

what are the degrees of tokenism (3,4,5) in Arnstein’s Ladder?

informing

consultation

placation

what are the degrees of citizen control (6,7,8) in Arnstein’s Ladder?

partnership (gov departments working w community groups. they are still invited IN (hierarchal))

delegation

citizen control

what category does participation usually fall into?

obtain public input into decisions taken elsewhere

what is involved in obtaining public input?

provide info to public

fill info gaps

problem solving and social learning

what is involved in sharing decision making

reflect democratic principles

pluralist representation

what is involved in altering distribution of power

can involve marginalised groups

shifts the locus of decision making/entrenches marginalization

what is coproduction

focus on service provision

• tends to focus on input/decision making

what is co-creation?

new and emerging solutions

• might allow altering distribution of power

what is co-governance?

specific to NZ context

maori and crown share equal seats at the table

consensus decision making

• a way of addressing entrenched inequalities

• Trying to produce outcomes for a certain group of ppl - actually working WITH the ppl

  • Not top-down

  • System is responding to their needs without being forced upon people

 

direct democracy

 Instead of elections, citizens should be able to directly engage in decision making themselves. e.g. town hall democracy/anarchist approaches (e.g. barcelona around civil war)

representative democracy

Vote for representatives. (what we got) instead of voting for bill, vote for party who will make decisions on my behalf

participatory democracy

 instead of just elections, tries to develop more mechanisms in which citizens can have a say (e.g. select committee process)

new public management

Engage w citizens not as citizens, but as taxpayers/clients/customers. As a result, rather than responding to ppls political viewpoints, you try to improve services from a consumer satisfaction viewpoint.

deliberative democracy

Not trying to focus on the point on decision making (debate for or against/main argument) but focus on the process in which opinions are formed (the deliberative process) e.g. newspapers/tv -- engagement of ideas through media.

collaborative governance

Works with GROUPS. e.g. Advocacy groups, not citizens themselves

sortition/lottocracy

1. Current rep democracy isnt doing a good job (primarily due to the money involved in electoral politics - reps act in the interests of big money corporations - regulatory capture )

   1. Therefore,,, we should pick the outcome at random - so we get average outcomes

   2. Draws from ancient Athenian models of democracy - democratic! Not aristocratic like reps

what are different methods of engagement

public hearings

government surveys

participatory budgeting

citizen advisory committees

community partnerships

petitions

referenda, protests, letter writing/phone calls to MPs, parliamentary submissions, media engagement

public hearings

most common form

low scale of empowerment

gov doesnt need to take anything into account

way of community to share grievances

anyone can show up

anyone can speak (doesn’t necessarily go anywhere)

what are the effectiveness of hearings (Lando, 2003)

can be more substantive or more symbolic

• if theres a disaster-hearings called in response to public outcry (more ad-hoc/symbolic)

closed vs open system

closed vs open system in public hearings

• more open a system, the more anyone can show up. introduces a lot of uncertainty into the process more broadly as well

• policy makers tend to like certainty

  • general public pretty fickle

• can be structured to make it more certain - framing very important

surveys/polls

consultative to determine community attitudes

low level of empowerment

can solicit feedback from a large number of ppl

may not be open to all

at a level of consultation

participatory budgeting

public participates in budgeting (where do we spend the money that we have?)

usually local level

may not be open to all (invited in, e.g. community groups)

may be bottom-up - result of grass-roots organizations

usually small-scale expenditure allocation

came out of porto alegre brazil

what is the sample process of participatory budgeting

design the process

brainstorm ideas

develop proposals

vote

fund winning projects

what are citizen advisory committee/panel/board

created by governments

usually local level, may not be open to all

usually look at specific pre-determined issues (consultative, not decision-making)

may have low/moderate empowerment

what are community partnerships

government cross-sector partnerships with community-based groups

focus on groups not individuals

may not be open to all

petitions

can have high empowerment for organizers

many can participate

can build momentum towards policy change

what are examples of petitions?

womens vote

abortion laws

anti-nuclear petition

semiautomatic weapons

freedom camping

dawn raids apology

conversion therapy

NZ to Aotearoa

referenda

started by citizens/gov

citizens initiated referenda act 1993 - form of direct democracy

limited to participation by citizens

can be binding or nonbinding

examples of government led referenda

(14 total)

• compulsory military training

• 3yr term of parliament

• voting system

• compulsory retirement savings scheme

• NZ flag

• cannabis legalisation and voluntary euthanasia (2020)

what is a referendum

general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision.

examples of citizen led referenda

(5 gone to vote)

• number of professional firefighters

• number of MPs

• parental corporal punishment

• gov sale up to 49% of Air NZ, meridian, mighty river power, solid energy