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 …show more content…
However, it is found that the groups like civic associations and nonprofit funders make most investments in promoting innovations and building civic capacity. They should be inspired to do so continuously more ambitiously and effectively but still such contributions are not enough to match with the rising cost of civic democracy. So, the government can and should rise to the occasion. More government’s involvement as civic enabler will help the country to cope with this problem.
Collaborative governance will redesign the policies which will aim to empower, enlighten, and engage the citizens in the process of self-government. Sirianni has done some case studies and empirical analyses of civic engagement and collaborative governance. From the case studies he has extracted eight core principles of collaborative governance. These eight core principles of collaborative governance and policy design are as pointed below:
(1) Coproduce public goods: The first principle of design should be such that it will encourage and recognize roles for ordinary citizens in coproducing public goods. Public goods are much complicated and there is no such direct tool of government which can produce this public goods. So the policy should be designed in such a way that it will help the ordinary
Unlike the national government, state governments encourage and support religious activities’ that inculcates virtue in the citizens (Bryner, Public Virtue and the Roots of American Government, 1987). Hence, in a small republic (state), there is a higher probability of finding true natural aristocrats with wisdom, talents and virtue to be representatives of the state. Being virtuous and wise, the representatives practice self-restraint to act in their own self-interest. For instance, corruption causes the funds to be diverted away from establishing a better society through the upgrading of facilities, provision of education and healthcare services. Furthermore, representatives in a small republic are a clear reflection of the citizens’ interests (Lim, 2014). Elections are held every few years to select the best representatives for the state. During the period of campaigning, the candidates have direct contact with the citizens through to organization of rallies and walkabouts where they interact with the electorate and understand their concerns. Hence, the electorate has an idea of whether the potential representatives are truly virtuous. Since these representatives are highly talented, they will also have the knowledge to implement appropriate laws and policies to manage the concerns of the
This article provides the audience with an adequately clear and convincing stance to explain what public policy is, and other academic literacy related to public policy, which included some famous theories. The main theme of this article is that public policy is intricate and no scholar can analyze any policies with one particular theory or model. In addition, the author argues that the public policy is multidimensional and it influences every citizen’s life profoundly.
Innovation has been a topic that has dominated the main conversation across many organizations. How can governments reshape their role and redesign the existing systems they have and renew the benefits from the creation and development of individual processes. The recession of 2008 has created opportunities and has demanded things be done differently. Gone are the times when problems are solved with endless resources and labor to work their way to a solution. The energy has been refocused to determine the best solution to the different array of issues facing any organization. The national debate has begun to reveal strategies that have reiterations of the most prominent theories and suggestions related to problem solving and a devotion to avoiding crisis. Municipality’s revenues have diminished, leadership and experienced workers have retired, and the push to change and progress is paramount, while assets and resources have been cut or are nonexistent. The key phrase of “doing more with less” has been engrained in every employee in the public sector who was fortunate enough to of avoiding the painful reduction in force policies that have contributed to the demise of the communities. These organizations have been cut deep and are left with employees that faced lost wages, decreasing financial securities and trust that represents the culture and values of these organizations. The changes necessary to reverse the demise of these organization demands collaboration and a change
“The government as an instrument of democratic action in the future has also been strengthened and renovated”
“A citizen is a political and moral agent who in fact has a shared sense of hope and responsibility to others and not just to him or herself” (Henry Giroux). A good citizen will not only wish for the better of themselves and their loved ones, but also of the entire world as well. A good citizen will stand up for what they consider important. As the quote by Giroux states, it is a responsibility to others as well, as the brave citizen is doing the entire community a favor as well. The analysis included in this paper will allow a reader to fathom what it means to bring change about, to get one’s voice heard, and to stand up for one’s beliefs, hopes and desires. This paper will be proceeded in a manner that not only summarizes the key ideas presented in Soul of Citizen, but also a connection to past events, along with present events and incidents.
This article is part of my series on Considerations and Ideas for Improving Government and Civil Society, and constitutes its second article.
When determining what designs and creates a democracy we look at what makes up its economy, what is the role of a citizen in that state or what defines a citizen, and how government should be acting in this democracy. This is what Lia and Hanauer did when they wrote the Gardens of Democracy, this descriptive book brings forth an idea that sees society as a garden which needs active tending and sustainability to better improve its situation. With the right gardeners and setting the garden will be able to prosper and adapt into the most suitable environment. The authors use this metaphor of a garden to describe that society needs citizens and government to tend to, that there needs to be an active role for government to provide citizens with
The fifth narrative “Street-Level Bureaucracy: The Critical Role of Street-Level Bureaucrats written by Michael Lipsky in 1980 whose ideas can be observed in the Reforming the Government School of though. The reading analyzed the significance of the actions of public workers to determine discretionary judgement when delivering services to the public. Government workers are the face of the government and the representation of the conditions of policy to the people. The problem that government workers face is the constant changed in policies and procedures that tend to directly affect the demands of citizens and services. Lipsky argued, “They are constantly torn by the demands of service recipients to improve effectiveness and responsiveness to improve effectiveness and responsiveness and by the demands of citizen groups to improve the efficacy and efficiency of government services” (p. 402). The function of government workers is usually questioned by citizens since they feel that any decision of street-level bureaucrats scan affect the stability of the people’s lives. In addition to the problems in relationships with clients, the increased in administrative cost for the government’s services was questioned and placed under scrutiny.
Marwa Answar Introduction to Political Ideas Prof. Marasco March 4, 2017 Take-Home Exam #2 The relationship between the government and its citizen prolonged to a controversial topic of debate. In the current Political era we saw the rise and the fall in the popularity of different viewpoints, vary between completely collective views to the entirely liberal ones. John Locke and Benjamin Constant well known Political theorist believed that the key to well developed Civil Society is that the citizen of that said society is exercising their liberty and political participation. This is where the relationship between the government and its people goes hand in hand to create some sort of alliance and trusting their government to represent their
Though business-like mechanisms can create a more efficient and potentially innovated government, government and business should be run differently, since they are inherently different in their conceptual values. Appleby explains some of these differences. He argues that no one can serve the public as it should be served unless he or she has a public-interest attitude with certain special characteristics. In addition, business has much narrower extent, while public officials are more broadly stimulated, with a breadth of view and a public-interest attitude. Government is complex as well as vastly interdependent with many other nonprofit and private organizations. Also, the government is subject to public scrutiny and public outcry. According to Denhardt and Denhardt, government acts, in concert with private and nonprofit groups and organizations, to seek solutions to the problems that communities face. In the process, the role of government is transformed from one of controlling to one of agenda setting, bringing the proper players to the table, facilitating, negotiating, or brokering solutions to public problems—often through coalitions of public, private, and nonprofit agencies. Finally, government is different from business
The components of a “good society” have eluded the grasp of man for centuries. A good society consists of three necessary components: A trust between the people and the government, an understanding but firm government that follows Machiavelli’s principles, and the people’s understanding of the general will.
A more thoughtful public begins with the understanding of civil society and its relationship with a democratic government. When I say civil society, I don’t mean just any U.S. citizen or community. To me, a democratic civil society represents the responsibility of each individual to stay politically informed, to check their sources, to question information presented to them, to reflect on their values, and to build an environment where people can come together despite differences. Recognition of these responsibilities is what creates structure and efficiency in organizations of any type.
The fact that traditional societies were small in size, made possible for anyone to participate with an active and direct way in the government of his community. “Every one is urged and invited to attend public meetings, and everyone is urged to vote not as a duty but as a privilege” (Vidich: 229). In modern
Admittedly, it is important to have an effective government for the growth and development of a nation. Equally, it is important to maintain a democratic government. While there are different ways of understanding what constitutes a democratic government, in public administration, democratic government can be viewed as a government that is responsive to the perspectives of its citizens and exhibit responsibility to the citizens. This can be promoted by the public institutions and public administrators (King, Feltey, & Susel, 1998). They can use various processes to ensure a democratic government including collaborative governance, decision making, citizen participation, administrative reforms, and budgeting. This paper seeks to discuss and analyze the efforts that the public organizations and the public administrators can make with regards to collaborative governance, citizen participation, and decision making to maintain a democratic government.
The more the planning process facilitate public participation, the more community will be aware of the planning function as a democratic and community force;