Values, Coalition Modification and Regime Replacement in Local Governance

1. Values, Coalition Modification and Regime Replacement in Local Governance By Charles Sampson, PhD Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Professor Khon Kaen University 3rd International Conference on Local Government Khon Kaen, Thailand November 15 and 16, 2012

2. The Overarching Assumption • Local Governments in democratic societies are: • universally situated at the bottom of the governance hierarchy, • burdened by statutory impotence, and • negligence Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

3. Local government as the “begging step-child” Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

4. Despite this Peril of Circumstance • Local governments are burdened with developing and delivering a variety of services • and have • limited ability to independentlygeneratefinancial resources Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

5. The Common Challenge to Local Governments in Any Democratic Society Incontrovertible Impotence Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

6. Effective Policy Coalition means removing the cloud of dependency and replacing it with the sunshine of liberation Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

7. The Key Question Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

8. This contribution crosses the boundary between traditional Public Administration, New Governance and New Public Governance and Beyond

9. Modern democratic societies are based on three pillars: • The market economy • Democratic, public institutions, and; • Non-governmental organizations

10. The framework for these three pillars is provided by the State, which sets all necessary legislation for economic, political and social activities of its residents. The success of any government is based on quality of it’s services and cooperation of all sectors of government.

11. Types of Democracy • A higher conceptual level than plebiscitary representative democracy is ‘discursive democracy’ (Dryzek, 1990) and; • Associative democracy (Barber, 1984) or • Strong democracy (Hirst, 1994) where clients, workers, and the public are intimately involved in the identification and clarification of policy issues.

12. Major Assumption: Channels of Access from Officials to the Public Educate Specialized publics & Interest groups Seek to co-opt Educate & stimulate Educate Mass Public Seek to influence Officials Mass Media Seek to Co-opt Educate & stimulate Educate & stimulate Political Parties Educate: offer alternate candidates & policies Shape Policies

13. Major Assumption II: Channels of Access from Public to Officials Specialized publics & Interest groups Express Opinions Seek to influence Participates Seek to influence Officials Mass Media Mass public Influence Seek to influence Political Parties Participates Organize government & opposition

14. The Genesis ofPolicy Coalition Theory • Theories/Concepts • Punctuated Equilibrium • Advocacy Coalition Frameworks • Urban Regime Theory Governance Paradigms • Traditional Public Administration • New Governance • New Public Governance Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

15. Public Administration (PA) focuses on government but does not pay sufficient attention to the contributions of non-governmental organizations and citizen stakeholders. The resource allocation mechanism functions at the discretion of the government, and the guiding value is a public service ethos (Gerth &Mills, 1970; Osborne & Gaebler, 1992; Barzelay, l992, 2001; Behn, 1998, 2001).   Three Governance Paradigms Each paradigm relates to challenges governments encounter regarding service delivery, but these paradigms do not address the experiences local officials experience at “street” level. • New Public Management (NPM). The theoretical roots emanate from rational choice and management studies; the emphasis shifts to management of organizational resources and performance benchmarking; the resource allocation mechanism is the market which is tethered to the business like ethos, and its value is manifest by the importance of competition among erstwhile public service vendors. (Osborne, D. and T. Gaebler,1992) • New Public Governance (NPG) is akin to institutionalism and network theory; the state (government) is declared impotent as a resource allocator; non-governmental organizations and citizen stakeholders achieve legitimacy as participants; negotiation and social capital become valuable skills. It is the junction to Policy Coalition Theory (PCT). Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

16. Coalitions/Governance Paradigms Described in the Literature Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

17. Comparing Punctuated Equilibrium, Advocacy Coalition Framework and Urban Regime Theory Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

18. The enabler for policy coalition theory: Citizen Participation • Empower and educate community members • Democracy Schools • Citizenship Schools • Re-educate administrators • Communication and interpersonal skills • Distinguish between managing and governing • Enable administrative structures and processes • Democratize institutions and procedures

19. Most Frequent Participatory Form in Democratic Societies • Plebiscitary participatory government, i.e., voting in elections that occur intermittently over extended periods of time • In a plebiscite the public can vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but that up or down vote is not always sufficient to achieve full participation

20. Historical Framework for Participation • Democratic political systems are designed to reflect and engender an active citizenry but they are also designed to protect political and administrative processes from a too-active citizenry.

21. The relationship between bureaucrats and citizens supports the formation and implementation of public policy, a notion that is at odds with traditional Western thought.

22. Why a viable policy coalition theory is important • Continuing distrust in government • Need for administrative legitimacy • Active accountability

23. Communication tools for actualizing policy coalition • Informational brochures • Public hearings • Youth city council • City festivals • FAQ’s on websites • Establish a Citizen Participation Officer • Economic development task force • Mayor’s budget message

24. Roles for Citizens in a Policy Coalition Pact • Citizens play many roles in communities, which must be recognized and tapped to most effectively engage them in community governance and improvement. • Major roles citizen play include: • Stakeholder • Advocate • Issue Framer • Evaluator • Collaborator Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

25. Citizen Roles • Evaluator: Someone who: • Assesses community conditions or service quality, • Interprets data on performance or conditions, or • Evaluates alternative solutions to community problems. • Collaborator: Someone who: • Helps forge compromise or build consensus among different interests to solve problems, • Works in partnership with others to implement community improvements, or • Identifies and helps leverage assets (e.g., other citizens, small businesses, community organizations, community meeting places) the government may not consider. Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

26. Citizen Roles • Stakeholder: Someone who: • Is a service customer, • Is an “owner” (shareholder) of the government or civic realm, or • Is an interested party concerning community conditions, existing or proposed projects or policies, or community service problems. • Advocate: Someone who: • Tries to protect or advance specific interests, or • Encourages the community to act. • Issue framer: Someone who: • Helps develop a long-term vision, goals, or strategic plan, • Helps determine what issues get on the community agenda, and set priorities for allocating resources or acting on issues, or • Defines problems from a citizen’s perspective. • Identifies possible solutions to community problems. Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

27. Why Robust Citizen Engagement? • Effectiveness • Legitimacy • Sustainability • Ownership of issues • Mobilize resources and support • Bring citizens’ energy to community improvement Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

28. Why Citizens in Multiple Roles? • Providing a full range of roles: • Helps more people find their comfort zone of what they are willing and able to do, despite their different interests, knowledge, skills, constraints. • Keeps citizens involved longer: e.g., from advocacy to getting things done. • Helps organizations identify more ways to support citizens as effective community partners. • As a result, more people contribute more time and energy to community improvement. Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

29. Citizen as Stakeholder (Customer) • Private sector learning: sustained and complex process to listen to and meet or exceed customer expectations • In person and online: set standards and evaluate service quality and satisfaction Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

30. Citizen as Evaluator: Toolkit • Manual by the Urban Institute (Harry Hatry and others) on measuring effectiveness of nine common local public services: How Effective Are Your Community Services? Includes a chapter on trained observer ratings. • JCCI articles and guidebook on conducting citizen-driven Quality of Life assessment, including guidelines for selecting indicators: http://jcci.org/statistics/understandingindicators.aspx • Community Indicators Consortium network of indicators practitioners and researchers:http://www.communityindicators.net/ Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

31. Citizen as Collaborator • Citizens help forge compromise and consensus on solutions, then partner in implementing improvement. • Citizens as partners in crime reduction, literacy and school success, clean streets, to homeland security. • Focus on vision and partners who can help bring about the vision. • Citizens identify and leverage assets (e.g., other citizens, small businesses, community organizations, community meeting places) the government may not consider. • Examples: • Recycling movement • Saint Louis Park, Minnesota: building youth assets. Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

32. Citizen as Collaborator: Toolkit • Strategic community partnerships -- partner or coalition with like minded groups based on an assessment • Sustain vehicles for connecting citizens to community outcomes -- continuity • Inform citizens on results and repeatedly offer engagement invitations in credible and effective ways • Children First, a call to individuals, families and organizations to give kids the care and support they need: http://www.slpschools.org/cf/ • “Asset-based” community improvement approach in Building Communities from the Inside Out by John Kretzmann and John L. McKnight, The Asset-Based Community Development Institute, Northwestern Universityhttp://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd.html Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

33. Quick Guide to Supporting Citizens in Five Major Roles of Citizen EngagementAdapted from Chapter 2 of Results That Matter (Jossey-Bass, 2006)

34. Perquisites for Vigorous Policy Coalition Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com

35. When PCT is achieved • strengthen the ability of municipalities to utilize proper tax • improved system of intergovernmental relations • improved access to loans and debt finance • improved revenue enhancement Effective Community Governance www.effectivegovernance.com