The Politics of Civic Engagement – Part 2
by Doug Griffiths in Communication, Community Development, Magazine
This article is being presented over three newsletters.  Part 1 appeared in the December edition.  

Civic engagement is a subject that is garnering more ink and prose than most other issues in municipal discourse these days. The term has different connotations depending on the context in which you search. For the purpose of this article, I am going to define civic engagement as the process of involving the general public in the planning and decision-making processes of council and the administration. That means this article is about the interaction of civic engagement and leadership. It will help to keep this in mind as you progress through the article, because I am going to assert some potentially controversial points about the use of civic engagement that only apply in this context.
 
Levels of Leadership
 
I have seen three types of leaders in my own political experience. Level 1 leaders tend to govern by polls. They acquire a sample of what the public sentiment is; if the majority is large enough, they implement policies that support those sentiments. They don’t take on controversial issues and most always opt to do what the public wants at that particular moment in time.
 
Level 2 leaders are renowned for getting out in front of the parade. They assess where people are now and in which direction their sentiments are heading; then, they jump out in front, knowing the public is going in the direction they are leading. They are usually people around whom a growing public sentiment can rally. And, as the parade marshal, they are out in front, serving as the figurehead of the growing movement.
 
Level 3 leaders are the game changers. They are the ones who step out on the edge to lead. They often see something that others can’t quite see, and they have a vision of how to get there. Successful level 3 leaders show people the way to go. They often need to do a lot of educating and inspiring to get others to follow, and they must always be vigilant that the crowd is following. They risk failing if they get too far ahead of the crowd, or stop motivating them to move in a particular direction.
 
Too often, leaders try to be exclusively one type or another. In reality, these three levels should not be seen as three types of leaders, but rather three types of leadership. Each level of leadership has value in different circumstances. There are times when polls must be taken on an issue, when leading a parade of momentum is valuable, and when standing on the edge and inspiring change is critical. Each type of leadership will also use civic engagement in different ways, utilizing different methods and serving different purposes.
 
Civic engagement, ultimately, is about getting strong support from an informed and educated public that is truly engaged in the process and about the issue when they need to be engaged.