Citizen Participation

1510 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Influence of social media

Decision making in public organizations can range from how to carry out everyday tasks to value questions that can shape people’s lives for years to come. It is important in these situations to ask for public input to make sure that the best decision is made for everyone who will be affected. Citizen participation in government has been practiced in the United States since its conception, the forums for the participation have changed but citizen input is still a vital part of the decision making process in American public administration.

Citizen participation, or public input, is defined as the participation of civil society (both individual citizens and institutionalized actors) in the local decision making process”. This can also be expanded beyond the local level to state and federal level public organizations. This process allows decision makers to hear and consider multiple opinions on matters that will affect the public. According to the Environment and Natural Resources Institute at the University of Alaska Anchorage, “public policy is a mixture of our values and opinions, technical knowledge and abilities, and our political systems.” It is precisely the mixture of values and opinions that make citizen participation necessary; it is the goal of citizen participation “to create structures to handle complex public issues in systematic, manageable and less emotional ways.” Public input provides a place for everyone to work constructively together.

There are many different types of citizen participation. One popular type is the forum. In the forum setting there is usually a set time and place for interested parties to meet, there will usually be a presentation addressing the problem and intended solution. After the present...

... middle of paper ...

... employee ideas campaign." 3-2-2110.http://govfresh.com/2010/03/sf-selects-brightidea-to-power-employee-ideas-campaign/ (accessed 3-3-2110).

Knight, Samuel. "Florida County Uses Social Media for Budget Feedback." 3-3-2010.http://ohmygov.com/blogs/general_news/archive/2010/03/03/county-in-florida-uses-social-media-for-feedback-on-budget.aspx (accessed 3-3-2010).

Koht, Peter. "City of Santa Cruz Offers Blueprint for Solving CA Budget Crisis with Social Media." 9-8-2009.http://www.gov2expo.com/gov2expo2009/public/schedule/detail/10344 (accessed 3-3-2010).

Re Source Solutions, "Public Decision Making: Government's Changing Role." http://edit.uaa.alaska.edu/resourcesolutions/upload/Gov%20Changing%20Role.pdf (accessed 3-3-2010).

"Santa Cruz City Budget." http://budget.santacruzcityca.gov/

"Your County Your Call." http://www.yourcountryyourcall.com/ (accessed 3-4-2010).

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Not By Math Alone

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the national civics assessment, “two-thirds of 12th graders scored below ‘proficient’…and only 9 percent could list two ways a democracy benefits from citizen participation” (O’Connor and Romer 4). The information provided clarifies just how little students know about democracy. Without education on the subject, they are unaware as to how their government contribution is beneficial and why it is needed in the first place. The students, because of their lack of understanding, therefore choose to not take part in their government and fail to carry out their duties as a citizen. The authors provide more research that shows “the better people understand our history and system of government, the more likely they are to vote and participate in the civic life” (O’Connor and Romer 8).

    Read More

  • Political Alienation in “Strengthening Citizen Participation in Public Policy-Making: A Canadian Perspective” by Michael R. Woodford and Susan Preston

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some would say that it presents as an absence of commitment to the influence of citizen’s although it becomes difficult to conceptualize the engagement of citizens as the basis for new or changing policy. Is the average citizen equipped with the knowledge to assess any and all governmental issues equally? Is personal opinion, without grounded bearings of evidence, enough? Can contingencies be placed upon the desire to strengthen citizen participation in public policy-making? The questions are endless, and even yet the Woodford and Preston note “statutory requirements for citizens input ‘would not necessarily mean that citizen engagement is accessible and done particularly well’” (356). The inclusion and weight of citizen input is necessary, although to what degree remains un-established.

    Read More

  • Service User Involvement and Participation

    2635 Words  | 6 Pages

    Citizen involvement: A practical guide for change. Basingstoke, England: Macmillan. Beresford, P., 8! Harding, T. (Eds.). (1993).

    Read More

  • Mandatory Voting: Enhancing Citizen Participation in America

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the year of 1870, on the 3rd day in the month of February, the 15th amendment was ratified. The 15th amendment prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Basically, giving all United States citizens the equal right to vote. Thousands of brave men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend the United States constitution that holds our rights. Not to mention all the hard work from several people it took to pass congress. So why not make voting mandatory? Mandatory voting will benefit the United States citizens by allowing everyone to exercise their rights, therefore, entitling us to have a say in the electoral process, possibly making a change to improve our country.

    Read More

  • Voter Participation in the United States

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States is an inspiration of liberty and hope for nations around the world. It is a nation with citizens who have the unalienable rights of, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” and a model for how democratic nations should be ordered and maneuvered due to its intrinsic values that are held. Democracy is a system of government where the citizens are responsible for shaping their nation to represent who they are and what they stand for. The people have the ultimate power in the nation. However, as no pure direct democracy exists in any nation, an indirect democracy arises, where people vote to elect representatives, who then in turn make the greater part of decisions for the nation.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Sirianni´s Investing in Democracy

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sirianni in his book “Investing in Democracy” has examined how government can serve as a civic enabler of productive engagement and collaborative problem solving among civic associations, ordinary citizens, and stakeholder groups. He also tried to find out how the public policy and administration can be designed to help the involvement of the government. Siriannni has argued on the view that in recent era the government’s role is becoming more important due to the increasing complexity of public problems, diversity among the stakeholders, and continued erosion of civic life by the deep cultural and institutional trends. Sirianni tried to reflect the image of the government, local, state, and federal as civic enabler whose work should be to design policy and invest strategically, systematically, and effectively in building civic capacity to enable the daily public life of the citizens. Sirianni has focused on many reasons to argue why government should be the civic enabler. Firstly, due to the long term changes in the civic organization and culture, the capacities for self-government will not simply bubble up from the wellsprings of civic society, and certainly they will not come out through the invisible hand of the market. “Civic changes have been propelled in many cases by profound and irreversible socioeconomics shift, such as the replacement of the highly civic-minded World War II generation, increased female participation in the labor force, and continual spread of technologies that encourage individualized leisure.” [Sirianni. C]. Secondly, it has been often found that government policies and administrative have often tried to disable effective and responsible civic action. So by involving the government the policies can be ...

    Read More

  • Colonial America Citizen Participation Analysis

    292 Words  | 1 Pages

    Colonial America Citizen Participation is one of the democratic features. Citizen Participation is when the citizens get to participate in the government. It is more than a right it’s an opportunity to get to be apart of something going on in your community. An effective citizen participation will most likely build a stronger democracy. Citizen Participation takes many forms like, debating issues, voting, serving in the military, paying taxes, running for office, and many many more. That can be found that in document 2 Voting Qualifications.

    Read More

  • Why People Should Participate In Voting In Canada

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    We need a government because it keeps a country in order. In Canada, a government is necessary to avoid conflict and division between the people. It would keep the country organized while making sure that each citizen’s voice is heard through representatives in a governing body. In addition, a government is necessary to maintain unity and peace within Canada. Without a government, it would be more likely for individuals with ill intentions to take action. It may also make the country a “target”, because the lack of government might make Canada vulnerable to potential international threats. Furthermore, it would make the country weaker, because there would be lack of unity and order among the citizens.

    Read More

  • Civic Engagement through Community Problem Solving

    6911 Words  | 14 Pages

    As young people’s civic and political participation continues to decline, a number of organizations are working to reverse the decline by increasing opportunities for youth to participate. Communities around the country are taking steps to engage young people through a variety of methods that allow youth to actually participate in policy development and take action on local issues. The effectiveness of such community programs on long-term civic engagement is not well documented, however. This paper presents preliminary research about the effectiveness of one community participation program, the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Youth Advisory Council. Quantitative and anecdotal evidence, while not conclusive, suggest this community problem solving approach may encourage its participants to engage in other civic and political activities. The paper also discusses the benefits that organizations and communities receive when young people participate in this way, and provides recommendations for developing a similar youth participation program.

    Read More

  • Civic Revolutionaries

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the problems today is that America’s distrust for their leaders because they view them as ineffectual and removed. There is a need in America to democratize the public planning process and decision-making process. Many times projects, developments, and policy decisions are made without significant public input and participation. This often leads to m...

    Read More

  • Civic Engagement

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    To achieve civic engagement is undertaken in many diverse ways. These are determined by several factors, amongst them the purpose of the civic engagement, the people involved in it, the funds to be involved amongst others. The...

    Read More

  • Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

    1596 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sinclair, J. and Diduck, A. (1995). Public education: an undervalued component of the environmental assessment public involvement process. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 15, 219-240;

    Read More

  • Social Media in Local Government

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    Community engagement is now a priority in many public sector agencies. Besides appealing to democratic principles, citize...

    Read More

  • Environment Managment Paradigms in New Zealand

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wilcock, D. A. (2013). From blank spcaes to flows of life: transforming community engagment in environmental decision-making and its implcations for localsim. Policy Studies 34:4, 455-473.

    Read More

  • Public Participation

    2346 Words  | 5 Pages

    This paper will begin by highlighting aspects of citizen participation showing the advantages and disadvantages it has on the policy process and discuss how citizen participation in the policy making pro...

    Read More

More about Citizen Participation

Open Document