“It’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feel fine.” – R.E.M. – Okay, so the world did not end last Friday afterall (take a deep breath and slowly exhale). Whew…what a relief. Now we can all take a “time out” to celebrate Christmas and ring in the New Year. That is,Read… Read more »
Pollsters, politicians and pundits quote public opinion polls to tell us what the public thinks. Deliberative democracy advocates promote public judgment to deepen public opinion. Few people talk about public wisdom – what it could be and what it could do. I think we need all three forms of public sensibility. I think we canRead… Read more »
Politics are terrible… Voting doesn’t matter… It’s only the primary… I’m too busy… These are commonly heard sentiments of people who don’t vote. Unfortunately, those who choose not to vote are putting their rights, business, property, community and even freedom at risk! Politics can be terrible. But to quote Winston Churchill, who led England toRead… Read more »
It’s a Tuesday night and it’s sprinkling outside, much to my dismay, as I head over to City Hall to witness what is expected to be a long and onerous council meeting. As I near the chambers it becomes obvious that a large swath of people have already begun to pour out onto the patioRead… Read more »
This past week my co-founder Manu and I headed to Sacramento for the annual California WateReuse conference, a policy/trade event that focuses on promoting the development of recycled water and desalination. Those in attendance included some of the industry’s best engineers, a wide array of public agencies and utilities, and of course, the public outreachRead… Read more »
Government, by necessity and obligation, must understand the competing interests and ideologies of the variety of identity groups that it serves. Put another way, those who are in charge must always have an ear to the ground if they want to remain in charge. That being said, there is no silver bullet in terms ofRead… Read more »
If you are a public agency or work for city government at any level, this video is a must see! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9UpKsNJeqI I welcome any sort of feedback. -Robert
Restore American democracy. Corporations are not people. Who inspires you? Abolitionists? Suffragists? Union organizers? Civil rights workers? Peace activists? Occupiers? They all have one thing in common. They were ordinary people faced with extraordinary injustice. Then they stood up, walked out of their comfort zones, and into history. They made the world better for allRead… Read more »
Newly Emergent Collaborative Governance Practices. Online Collaboration is increasingly being used to address complex resource and ecosystem management issues, and for strategic planning and development. In the context of challenges to traditional government practices, we are seeing generation of a variety of new practices that are based on collaboration, deliberation, and dialogue. In a previousRead… Read more »
Two Words: User Acquisition Local, state and national Governments have yet to fully take advantage of the many platforms available for crowd sourcing policy primarily because they have failed to court a significant enough user base to generate a genuine and sustained online community. Without a diverse enough, self-regulating community of users who are continuallyRead… Read more »