Sean Kershaw's Weblog
« Don't Miss the "State of the Region" Speech | Main | A new model for civic policy-making: Part III »
January 20, 2008
A new model for policy making: a "civic policy agenda" (Part II)
(Thanks Mike O'Connor for caring to ask what I was thinking!) So here goes...
Our work with the MN Anniversary Project, and especially the Minnesota Active Citizenship Initiative, have led us to begin thinking and talking about a "civic policy agenda". Peg Michels does a better job than I could explaining the ideas behind this concept, but the two key elements for me are:
1) Seeing every citizen as a potential "policy-maker" -- meaning that they have the capacity to describe problems, come up with solutions, and set policy and allocate resources to solve the problems. (Or as Nate would say...to "manage these dilemmas".)
2) Seeing every institution as having a role in policy-making. Imagine trying to solve education or healthcare with only state/government solutions, for example.
This model isn't hierarchical, for pretty obvious reasons. This model isn't grass-roots either, because it acknowledges the role that traditional leaders and all institutions have.
But is it a new way of talking about public policy, and does it highlight how much the world of policy-making has changed, or needs to change. Too much of our policy making still exists in a hierarchical world with government and experts at the top and other institutions and most citizens either struggling for their role, or not being acknowledged for the role they play.
More on THAT next.
Posted by Sean Kershaw at January 20, 2008 11:10 AM