The Glass is Half Full

Civic innovator Hollie Russon Gilman answers questions about her new book, Democracy Reinvented

Your book has an amazing title. Can we really reinvent democracy?

Hollie Russon Gilman: Perhaps the question is whether or not we can change the current perceptions of every day people towards our democratic institutions. There is a general feeling of lack of civic trust in institutions and a weakened tie between every day people and their elected representatives. For me, reinventing democracy would entail new modes and opportunities for every day people to re-engage in civic life and feel closer to their neighbors, community, and government.

You write, “Understanding participatory budgeting requires identifying the potential interests of various stakeholders in the process.” Can you put that in a U.S. context? I think for a lot of us, with the image of partisan gridlock rolling across our screens day in and day out, the idea of stakeholders working together feels really distant and aspirational. How does PB bring multiple interests together effectively?

Hollie Russon Gilman: Great question. In the United States participatory budgeting has benefited from strong civil society support such as the Participatory Budgeting Project and Community Voices Heard in New York City. In New York City, the process has been bi-partisan from the start, bringing folks together from across the aisle. Public Agenda, working with the Participatory Budgeting Project and others, is formulating a shared research agenda and research board, bringing diverse researchers to evaluate the process. In communities, PB ignites several types of people — including some who are life long community actors and others for whom PB is their first type of civic engagement. For example, the Boston process has empower young people ages 12–25 to allocate $ 1million dollars. For many of these young people, voting in PB is their first vote.

Cities and localities are places where the majority of Americans interact with their government. Cities can play a natural role to engage people in their civic life.

You write a lot about PB, but your book also delves into other forms of civic innovation, describing cities as “local innovation hubs” or “a global twenty-first-century public sphere.” What is it about cities that fosters democratic innovation?

Hollie Russon Gilman: Cities and localities are places where the majority of Americans interact with their government. Cities can play a natural role to engage people in their civic life. We are seeing exciting interventions including through the creation of innovation offices from Seattle, WA to Boston, MA. For example Bloomberg Philanthropies is helping support innovation teams across the country to support data driven and community driven solutions. Many of these units are working to design city services to meet the needs of diverse community users and put citizen’s needs front and center.

What are two examples of civic innovation — beyond PB — that excite you and that you want people to know more about?

Hollie Russon Gilman: There are so many! The opportunity provided by civic crowdfunding is very promising, where people can pledge small-scale dollars to fund public projects. See for example Citizinvestor.com. Another example is the trend of community driven dialogues to engage residents to define city policies the day after elections. A core component of these innovations include listening to every day residents to define community priorities. Take, for example, the Talking Transition tent set up in New York City or the Opportunity Coalition, which is driving a community listening process on sustainability in Baltimore.

The glass is half full. While there is discontent about institutions and their role in a 21st century democracy, there is also civic energy to re-engage people to be a part of their communities.

What would you want to everyday reader (or the average voter) to take away from your book?

Hollie Russon Gilman: The glass is half full. While there is discontent about institutions and their role in a 21st century democracy, there is also civic energy to re-engage people to be a part of their communities. The question for public officials, practitioners, and researchers will be how to better structure public policy to tap into people’s knowledge, ability, compassion, and even kindness. GovLab Director Beth Noveck’s new book, Smart Citizens, Smarter State, is particular instructive here. Our institutions can reflect the best version of ourselves.

A question toward the end of your book is really striking. You write simply: “Why participate?” Particularly given the volatility around participation discourse these days — will the young people vote? Will Republicans vote for Trump? Will people stay home on election day? Will our best and brightest ever again seek public service? — this question seems utterly fundamental to thinking about American democracy. Without giving away too many secrets (buy the book, readers!), why in your view is participation the heart of democracy? How should we adjust our perceptions of what kinds of participation we need and what kinds of participation are already happening?

Hollie Russon Gilman: It’s always important to visit and question core normative assumptions that fuel our democracy. Robust civic participation requires incentives that illustrate the value of civic engagement. This includes ensuring the rules of the road are fair, transparent, and easily accessible. People want to see the fruits of their labor. This does not always mean changes in policy, but it does suggest that we need more two-way communication between every day people and elected officials. And greater transparency feedback mechanisms about what works and why.