PPDE 647 Civic Engagement in Governance
PPDE 647—Civic Engagement in Governance
Price School of Public Policy
University of Southern California
Terry L. Cooper, Ph.D.
The Maria B. Crutcher Professor in
Citizenship and Democratic Values
Spring 2013 Phone: (213)740-0371
Tuesday 9a.m. to 12:20 p.m. Email:
Room: TBA Office Hours: [TBA]
Catalogue description: The roles of citizens, civic associations, nonprofit organizations, government and business in democratic governance are the scope of this course. Civil Society as the interface among these entities will be addressed as the context in which civic engagement occurs. The focus of the course is on an array of techniques for civic engagement, the purposes for which particular techniques may be used and the contexts in which they are employed in the life of civil society.
Course Overview: This course will examine approaches to civic engagement at various levels of government, both in the U.S. and other nations in the world. A basic premise of the course will be that democratic governance requires some degree of participation by citizens beyond electoral processes. Just how much, by whom, how often, and on what problems and issues, varies considerably from place to place and time to time. However, this course will assume that the greater the diversity of a society, the more citizens need to be engaged. With increasing diversity, representative democracy becomes less effective, and more direct participation by a heterogeneous populace is required if government is to be responsive to the array of interests and needs of its people. It is entirely appropriate to challenge this premise if you see reasons to do so.
We will follow a seminar format with a combination of ef lectures by the professor, discussion, and student led presentations regarding the assigned readings. We will also have occasional guest speakers. Early in the semester, each student will either:
1) identify and select one particular method of civic engagement and begin developing expertise on that specific approach, including a critical assessment of its strengths and weaknesses. This research will become the basis for a term paper project, or
2) identify some particular problem related to civic engagement and conduct both field and library research on that topic with recommendations about how it should be resolved.
During the semester we will try to spend part of at least two class sessions visiting examples of civic engagement. The most likely candidates for these visits are the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council system, but there may be others.
The course learning objectives
By the end of the semester, students will have:
· achieved an understanding of the concepts of, “citizen” and “citizenship,” and interrelationships among citizens and various governmental jurisdictions
· successfully used appropriate methods of research to understand different techniques of civic engagement, and their strengths and weaknesses
· successfully carried out a research project of graduate course quality on one specific problem related to civic engagement, or some particular method for civic engagement and its implementation
· developed broad knowledge about an array of civic engagement techniques
Books:
Required
John Forester, Dealing with Differences: Dramas of Mediating Public Disputes. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Graham, Bob, America, the Owner’s Manual: Making Government Work for You. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010.
O’Connell, Brian, Civil Society: The Underpinnings of American Democracy. Hanover: Tufts University, University Press of New England, 1999.
Scott W. Rasmussen, In Search of Self-Governance. Asbury Park,N.J.: Rasmussen
Reports , 2009.
Articles and Reports
Required
Course Reader for PPDE647 (CR)—This can be purchased at the USC Bookstore in
The Custom Reader department.
Recommended Book and Journal article
Creighton, James L. The Public Participation Handbook: Making Better Decisions Through Citizen Involvement. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.
“Essays on Citizen Participation and Governance,” Public Administration Review, March/April 2007, 67, no. 2, pp. 199-289.
Online Resources on Methods of Civic Engagement:
Civicus: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
http://www.civicus.org/
The Research University Civic Engagement Network Toolkit on Engaged Research
http://www.compact.org/initiatives/civic-engagement-at-research-universities/trucen-overview/
Civic Engagement Experts Around the World
http://www.tufts.edu/talloiresnetwork/?pid=151&c=62
UN Toolkit for Civic Engagement
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan028366.pdf
Public Deliberation: A Managers Guide to Citzen Engagement
http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/ostp/opengov_inbox/ibmpubdelib.pdf
International Association for Public Participation
http://www.iap2.org/
America Speaks
http://www.americaspeaks.org/
Pathways Through Participation
http://pathwaysthroughparticipation.org.uk/
The Harwood Institute
http://www.theharwoodinstitute.org/index.php?ht=d/Home/pid/10131
The Deliberative Democracy Consortium
http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/
American Civic Engagement in Comparative Perspective:
Key Comparative Findings from the U.S. “Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy” Survey
http://www8.georgetown.edu/centers/cdacs/cid/CID%20Report.pdf
The full survey instrument may be found at: www.uscidsurvey.org
Institute for Local Government Civic Engagement
www.ca-ilg.org/engagement
Worldwide Views on Global Warming
http://www.wwviews.org/
Mindmixer interactive municipal websites
www.passthepotatoes.com
www.lplan2040.org
www.burbanktownhall.com
http://townhall.nashvillerecovery.com
http://mindmixer.planetizen.com
Help4U
https://www.help4u.com/#/Home
America Speaks overview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kR7SuoyBv8&feature=channel
America Speaks participatory budgeting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfOqh_yKPR0
SeeClickFix
www.seeclickfix.com
Tina Nabatchi, A Manager’s Guide to Evaluating Citizen Participation
The Obama administration’s Open Government Initiative is now three years old. But is it making a difference. Washington, D.C.: The IBM Center for the Business of Government, 2012.
:http://www.businessofgovernment.org/report/manager%E2%80%99s-guide-evaluating-citizen-participation
*See also various documents in the Course Documents section of the Blackboard website for this course.
Disability Services
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open early 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
1. Term Project – 65% total points (Proposal-15%, Progress Report-15%, Presentation and final paper—35%)
You will be expected to identify either a specific method for civic engagement or some specific problem in civic engagement early in the semester which will be the focus of your research. In selecting a method or a problem, I encourage you to choose one that will be relevant to your field of study and then to investigate it consistently with your own particular interests. The following steps represent the main elements of the project and the paper that you will write as the major product of this seminar:
a. Select a specific method or problem
b. Identify available resources on this method or problem and prepare a list with full bibliographical citation information. Your list should contain at least 25 entries and should include scholarly journal articles, books, online sources, video material, and experts. It should include material on how to carry out the method or resolve the problem you have selected, case examples of how the method has been used, or the problem addressed in several settings, along with critical assessments of the strengths and weaknesses.
c. Read the items on the resource list and prepare a briefly annotated bibliography with a sentence or two summarizing the focus of each item.
d. Identify 3 experts who are familiar with your selected method or problem. Interview these experts, preferably in person, either face to face or by telephone, but if that is not possible, you may interview them by email. Elicit information from them dealing with the most effective uses of the method, or ways of resolving the problem.
e. Write a 20-25 page paper that explains the method and how it is implemented, or the problem and how it has been addressed. Be sure to include your own critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the method, or to present your own recommendations for resolving the problem, weighing the alternatives.
f. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation on the method and your findings based on your paper for presentation in class.
Term Project Schedule and Due Dates
The following schedule indicates the various mile stones that need to be observed:
January 15– Term project proposal due: a description of your selected method or problem of civic engagement, briefly describe the problem or how the method works, and your list of resources, including experts you will try to interview and their contact information. This should entail approximately 3 pages to be submitted to me and a 3 minute oral presentation in class. You are encouraged to communicate with me by email as you prepare this initial report to be sure you are on the right track.
Weeks 7 and 8– Progress reports in individual meetings with the professor. Sign up in class for appointments. Prepare a statement that shows activities since beginning—3 pages or so. Review plans for presentation.
April 23 and 30--In-class PowerPoint presentations of your entire project based on your final paper. Bring copies of slides for your presentation to distribute to the class. Students will provide feedback to each presentation.
Submission of final draft of individual paper - 25 - 30 pages.
2. Presentations on Assigned Materials (20%)
Students will each do 1 or 2 presentations on the assigned course material depending on the class enrollment. Each student will have 45 minutes to present an assessment of the material based on visual aid presentation such as PowerPoint, handout charts, discussion questions, etc. Approximately 20 minutes of each presentation should be devoted to engaging the class in discussion.
3. Class participation in discussion and student led discussions (15%)
All class members are expected to be present for all class sessions. Absence will be excused only for medical reasons documented by a note from a physician.
During class sessions all class members will be expected to participate actively in presentations by students as well as my presentations.
Course Outline and Weekly Reading Assignments
January 15--Session no. 1 – Introduction to the Course
I. Civil Society as the Political and Social Context of Civic Engagement
January 22--Session no. 2
Civil society and Citizenship in the U.S.
O’Connell, chs. 1-5
January 29--Session no. 3
Problems and Future of Civil Society in the U.S.
O’Connell, chs. 6-8
Begin Student Presentations
*Term Project Proposal Due
February 5--Session no. 4
Self governance, Civil Society, and Political Institutions
Rasmussen—the entire book
II. Institutions for Civic Engagement
February 12--Session no. 5
Distortions of citizen participation
Snider, “Deterring Fake Public Participation,” International Journal of Public Participation, January 2010, v. 4, no. 1. (CR)
Arnstein, “A Ladder of Citizen Participation,”
http://lithgow-schmidt.dk/sherry-arnstein/ladder-of-citizen-participation.html
*Progress Report Signups--During weeks 7 and 8 --Individual meetings with the instructor re: research projects. Sign up in class for appointments with the professor for progress reports on your project during weeks 7 and 8.
February 19--Session no. 6
International Overviews of citizen participation
IAP2, “Painting the Landscape: A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Public- Government Decision-Making, Executive Summary of Preliminary Findings” August 2009. (CR)
OECD, “Engaging Citizens in Policy-making: Information, Consultation, and Public Participation,” PUMA Policy Brief No. 10, July 2001. (CR)
Overview of civic engagement in the U.S. “Creating Space for Change: Working Toward a “story of now” in Civic Engagement,” W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 2010. (CR)
February 26--Session no. 7
Civic Engagement Institutions
Cooper, Bryer, and Meek, “Citizen-Centered Collaborative Public Management,” Public Administration Review, December 2006, Special Issue.
Fung, “Survey Article: Recipes for Public Spheres: Eight Institutional Design Choices and Their Consequences,” Journal of Political Philosophy, 2003, v. 11, n. 3.
Progress report meetings this week
III. Strategies and Techniques for Civic Engagement
March 5--Session no. 8
Civic Engagement Institutions (continued)
Fung, “Varieties of Participation in Complex Governance,” Public Administration Review, December 2006, Special Issue.
Skocpol, Ganz, and Munson, “A Nation of Organizers: The Institutional Origins of Civic Voluntarism in the United States,” American Political Science Review, September 2000, v. 94, n. 3.
Progress report meetings this week
March 12--Session no. 9
Political Strategy
Graham, America, the Owner’s Manual: Making Government Work for You. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010.
SPRING BREAK—MARCH 17-23
March 26--Session no. 10
Citizen Participation Techniques
Lukensmeyer and Torres, “Public Deliberation: A Manager’s Guide to Citizen Engagement,” IBM Center for The Business of Government, Collaboration Series, February 2006
Fung and Wright, “Deepening Democracy: Innovations in Empowered Participatory Governance,” Politics & Society, March 2001, v.29, no.1.
April 2--Session no. 11
Civic Engagement Problems
Forester, Dealing With Differences, Introduction, Parts 1 and 2
April 9—Session no. 12
Civic Engagement Problems (continued)
Forester, Dealing With Differences, Parts 3, 4, and Conclusion
April 16--Session no. 13—Lecture and discussions on a comprehensive model of Citizen Participation
April 23--Session no. 14
Student Project Presentations
April 30--Session no. 15
Student Project Presentations
Submit final draft of individual paper by the end of this class session.
ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITY
"Students, faculty, and administrative officials at the University of Southern California, as members of the academic community fulfill a purpose and a responsibility.
The University must, therefore, provide an optimal learning environment, and all members of the University
community have a responsibility to provide and maintain an atmosphere of free inquiry and expression. The
relationship of the individual to this community involves these principles: Each member has an obligation
to respect:
1. THE FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS OF OTHERS
2. THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS BASED UPON THE NATURE OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
3. THE RIGHTS OF THE INSTITUTION
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
The following statements and examples explain specific acts of academic dishonesty.
1. Examination Behavior: Any use of external assistance during an exam is considered academically dishonest unless expressly permitted.
a. Communicating in any way with another student during the examination.
b. Copying material from another student's exam.
c. Using unauthorized notes, calculators or other devices.
2. Fabrication: Any intentional falsification or invention of data or citation in an academic exercise will be considered a violation of academic integrity.
a. Inventing of altering data for a laboratory experiment or field project.
b. Resubmitting returned and corrected academic work under the pretense of grader evaluation error, when, in fact, the work has been altered from its original state.