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A free resource that accompanies PP21CD
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Free Public Participation Skills Module Now Available

As part of the development of Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy, Tina Nabatchi and I created a Participation Skills Module to bring together all the main skills people are using to engage citizens in meaningful and productive ways.  The product of our efforts is now available free for download at bit.ly/PPskills. 

The Skills Module covers "ten key talents for engaging citizens." We describe online tools, face-to-face techniques, and overarching strategies for:
  1. Building coalitions and networks;
  2. Recruiting participants;
  3. Communicating about participation;
  4. Managing conflict;
  5. Providing information and options;
  6. Managing discussions;
  7. Helping participants generate ideas;
  8. Helping participants make group decisions;
  9. Supporting action efforts; and
  10. Evaluating participation.
There are a number of other free resources in the Downloads section of the book's website at Wiley.com, including supplemental readings, recommended books on participation, activities and exercises for courses and trainings, and slide decks to accompany each chapter of the book.

If you are considering Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy in a course you will be teaching, or a training you will be leading, you can request a review copy.

Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy would not have been possible without the contributions of the many practitioners, researchers, funders, and public officials who have been involved in the Deliberative Democracy Consortium. Your work inspired me to work with Tina on this book, and introduced us to many of the tools, examples, and potential reforms we write about. The DDC stands at the intersection of deliberation, public work, community organizing, civic technology, public journalism, and participatory budgeting. We hope the book reflects the confluence of those ideas and practices, and does justice to the vast potential of incorporating them in more democratic systems of governance.

Matt

What reviewers are saying about PP21CD:

“In a tour de force of the field, this book provides a practical, comprehensive, and insightful overview of how the field of public participation in the United States has been transformed over the last half century, and why it must continue to be re-invented for this century and beyond.”
- Professor John Gaventa, Director of Research, Institute of Development Studies

“Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy provides an excellent introduction to the history, theory and practice of empowering citizens to participate in government, which is crucial to our democracy. Leighninger and Nabatchi explain how, despite the challenges, public involvement in government remains a goal worth pursuing, and they provide an array of practical techniques and case studies to help foster that participation. Government agencies would be well-served to consider the innovative strategies they offer here, especially those that deploy new technologies to engage with citizens.”
- Ann M. Ravel

“A thoughtful, comprehensive, and original work, this book reveals the state-of-the-art on public participation in the 21st century. It is a must-read for scholars, a go-to for practitioners, and a wake-up call for those who doubt citizens’ capacity to make things work.”
- Tiago Peixoto, Team Lead, Digital Engagement Unit at the World Bank

“Community engagement is essential to building public trust, which will increasingly be the working capital for local governments. Knowledge of emerging approaches for both high-tech and high-touch engagement are now essential for all elected and appointed officials. Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy is a practical guide for officials who understand these challenges and want to encourage citizen contributions to governance.”
- Robert O’Neill, Executive Director, International City/County Management Association

“If you care about democracy and its future, please read this book! Nabatchi and Leighninger have produced a conceptually rich and immensely practical overview of public participation and how we the people, our elected officials, and leaders of all kinds can improve our lives together as free people in a democratic society.”
- John Bryson, McKnight Presidential Professor of Planning and Public Affairs, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

“‘Grand plans are made of small elements,’ say the authors of Public Participation for the 21st Century. In this tour de force, Nabatchi and Leighninger vividly capture the small elements of change stirring across the country in which citizens are asserting their central role in America’s greatest adaptive experiment – democracy. The authors provide a framework that moves from the theoretical to the practical and back to help us make sense of the current chaos and experimentation that always accompanies deep systemic change. In this unflinching examination of how public policy could be better with more citizen participation, they inspire us to think grandly and also to roll up our sleeves to create the future we want.”
- Paula Ellis, civic entrepreneur, former media executive, journalist, community builder, and philanthropist.

“Today, people worldwide are crying out to have more say in the public decisions that most impact their lives locally and nationally. Nabatchi and Leighninger have written an engaging, accessible, and comprehensive book that will enable thousands of students, practitioners and government officials to improve public participation to meet the challenges facing 21st century democracy.”
- Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, Executive Director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse

“Nabatchi and Leighninger authors deftly slice and dice conventional participatory processes and replace them with new ideas for quality public participation.  Examples from real world policy areas, as well as ‘participation scenarios and tactics,’ drive home the everyday relevance of this book. Questions for discussion make this a natural for classroom use, but its reach is far broader:  This book is a ‘must read’ for those around the world who hope to foster true democratic participation."
- Rosemary O’Leary, Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor, School of Public Affairs,  University of Kansas

“Far more than a ‘how-to’ manual, the authors demonstrate the necessity of recognizing and responding to the ever-changing social, political, organizational, and sector-specific dynamics that influence how, when, and why public participation efforts succeed or fail. Perhaps most importantly, the authors offer practical strategies and guidance to assist readers in strengthening the quality and impact of public participation initiatives.”
- Kyle Bozentko, Executive Director, Jefferson Center

 

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