The Greek philosopher Plato once said, "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”. His words are as true today as when he spoke them. As problems in society continue to become more complex, the need for quality solutions becomes even more apparent. Investing in civic engagement can improve citizens’ quality of life by expanding government services, improving the decision-making process, and empower citizens to work for the common good.
Since the end of World War II, citizens have demanded far more services from their government. These demands have led to the creation of more administrative agencies, a larger number of civil servants, and higher government spending. Dwight Waldo coined the phrase “administrative state” to describe this need for expanded government services. Many of these agencies were developed to tackle some of the societies largest problems that the private-business world could not. However, due to budget cuts, limited staff members, and inexperienced leadership, organizations often times find themselves unable to find the magic bullet to solve the major problems. With limited resources, the local governments need to shift their focus towards the co-production of a number of its services.
Co-production can improve services to the community without increasing spending or expanding the already large size of the government. This from of civic engagement can allocate scare resources by participating in a volunteer fire department, community watch programs, or even through an “adopt-a-highway” program. Critics worry that moving towards co-production of services will trade one set of problems for another. They worry about the overall accountabili...
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...and specific issues and more on the quality of the nation’s public life over the long term”. This train of thought moves away from picturing people as consumers of services and more like proactive citizens. Proactive citizens are more likely to buy into the participative decision-making process stated earlier. With an increased buy-in, citizens can collaborate on the most pressing issues surround their communities and create their own vision for the future. This type of community is better positioned to respond to rapid change and take ownership of the deliberative processes, strengthening local structures for public action, and promoting the legitimacy of the outcomes.
Again, investing in civic engagement can improve citizens’ quality of life by expanding government services, improving the decision-making process, and empower citizens to work for the common good.
On the national civics assessment, “two-thirds of 12th graders scored below ‘proficient’…and only 9 percent could list two ways a democracy benefits from citizen participation” (O’Connor and Romer 4). The information provided clarifies just how little students know about democracy. Without education on the subject, they are unaware as to how their government contribution is beneficial and why it is needed in the first place. The students, because of their lack of understanding, therefore choose to not take part in their government and fail to carry out their duties as a citizen. The authors provide more research that shows “the better people understand our history and system of government, the more likely they are to vote and participate in the civic life” (O’Connor and Romer 8).
Municipal control or an alternative delivery method? This is the question that has intrigued all levels of local government and created intense debates between taxpayers across municipalities. The services that municipalities provide are often vital to the existence of a local area. The issues of accountability, cost savings, quality of service and democracy often arise when choosing the best options to deliver services to a municipal area. In recent years the concepts of privatization, alternative service delivery and public-private partnerships are often promoted as ways cut down on overburdened annual city budgets and promote a higher quality of service to citizens. Municipalities have historically always provided basic services such as fire protection, water purification/treatment and recreational facilities. However, would private companies or another municipality be able to better deliver the same services more efficiently or at a lower cost? The city or town often provides a political grass roots approach to most local problems. Municipalities are better positioned and have a wider scope to provide services to their constituents in order to ensure quality of service that does not erode accountability and transparency, or drive the municipality deeper into debt.
Americans and Britons had a stronger sense of civic duty and and civic competence, believed they could “do something’ about an unjust law, and that citizens should be active in one’s community. While Americans lagged behind Austria, the Netherlands, West Germany, and the United Kingdom in voter participation, they seemed to be much more involved in other areas such as campaigning, being active in the local community, and contacting government official. But in “Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam states that not only has voter turnout declined, but so has citizen participation in politics and government. This is because they are more self-reliant now. People do not vote because they do not care. They believe the democratic values this nation was built upon do not exist
There are a number of various ways that can be used in order to address the ever-growing problem of democratic deficit in the UK, which is based around factors such as the low participation rates and general apathy towards politics in the wider public.
4Lopez, Hugo and Benjamin Brown. 2006. Civic Engagement among 2-year and 4-year College Students. Somerville, MA: The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
...er to understand why voter turnout is so low. As a society we must take into consideration all of these and find ways to promote higher turnout rates, whether it be through social reform programs to increase citizens socioeconomic status, more education, better political environments at the home and community level, or less restrictions on voting. In order for our society to effectively and efficiently function we must participate in our democratic system at higher percentages than an average participation of roughly 40 percent.
Experts commonly define civic engagement as individual and group actions that collectively address general issues of concern that are public in nature. Civic engagement takes many forms such volunteerism, community organizing, and involvement in public policy and political issues. Individuals and community residents can express civic engagement through a variety of activities including participating in neighborhood associations, communicating with elected officials, and volunteering for local nonprofits.
Those that identify with duty-based citizenship norms are more likely to participate in traditional electoral style political behaviors such as paying income taxes, voting in elections, or serving in the armed forces- historically, this has been the most prevalent form of citizen involvement in politics. In recent years there has been a shift in focus among the younger generation from conventional duty based citizenship norms to a more involved, hands-on form of participation described as engaged citizenship. Those that identify with the engaged citizen model may still participate in electoral politics but are more likely to involve themselves through behaviors such as volunteer work, protesting unethical public entities and directly contacting public officials about issues that concern them. Duty based citizens differ from engaged citizens not only in the ways that they involve themselves politically, but also in the types of issues that they tend to focus on- for example, while duty-based citizens are more likely to focus on issues of the administrative, regulatory and fiscal variety, engaged citizens tend to focus on social, cultural and humanitarian issues. It could be argued that the duty-based model
Citizen involvement: A practical guide for change. Basingstoke, England: Macmillan. Beresford, P., 8! Harding, T. (Eds.). (1993).
To achieve civic engagement is undertaken in many diverse ways. These are determined by several factors, amongst them the purpose of the civic engagement, the people involved in it, the funds to be involved amongst others. The...
The recent decline in young people’s participation in political and civic activities has resulted in a revival within the field of civic education. Formal education institutions are not the only ones concerned about youth engagement, however. A number of community agencies and nonprofits are active at the local level throughout the country. They are working to engage young people through a variety of methods, few of which have been researched to determine their effectiveness. One such community e...
Theater 180 addressed the quest question of how do people understand and engage in community life? Through this class I’ve gained a better understanding of what civic engagement is. At the start of this semester I had very minimal knowledge about civic engagement. As far as I knew civic engagement was just volunteering but nothing much beyond that. With this class I have learned that civic engagement is much more than just volunteer work.
Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration.
The public sector faces an increasing pressure to run government like a business; to be more cost efficient, as small as possible, competitive, entrepreneurial, and focused on customer satisfaction. When the focus shifts to incorporating business practices in public administration, the quality of the public service decreases and the interaction becomes less about a commitment to public service and more like the manufacture and marketing of a product.
The lack of service delivery is a vital subject that is tackled by countless residents and government officials. Thus, distinct methods are needed to safeguard that services are delivered below the leadership of local government. The purpose if this essay is to converse about the reasons why governments commence on Alternative service delivery mechanisms. This will be accomplished by bestowing definitions of precise concepts by also considering technological improvements as Alternative service delivery methods. Furthermore, this essay will recognize alongside suitable examples, the acts played by voluntary associations and private contractors in advancing competent and effectual ability to deliver services.