FAQs: All About Public Engagement
You don't need a Top Ten list to know that the number one question about public engagement is: what is public engagement? Even if you think you know, we're pretty sure you'll find the following list of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers to be a good resource as you work toward achieving the change and problem-solving you'd like to see happen in your own community.
Also highly recommended: our case studies and Primer on Public Engagement, a free download you can start using today, especially helpful for citizens just beginning to learn about this approach to problem-solving; the working papers published by our Center for Advances in Public Engagement (CAPE), especially helpful for professionals working in the field of public engagement; and "Fifteen Things Every Journalist Should Know about Public Engagement," a guide for media professionals and others to the core principles of effective public engagement.
FAQ1. What is public engagement?
FAQ2. How does public engagement differ from business as usual?
FAQ3. Why is public engagement important?
FAQ4. When is public engagement useful?
FAQ5. Isn't this just more talk?
FAQ6. Who initiates public engagement?
FAQ8. Can you show me some examples of cases of public engagement at work?
FAQ10. How can I contact the Public Engagement team at Public Agenda?
Public engagement is a process that brings people together to address issues of common importance, to solve shared problems, and to bring about positive social change. Effective public engagement invites average citizens to get involved in deliberation, dialogue and action on public issues that they care about. And, it helps leaders and decision makers better understand the perspectives, opinions, and concerns of citizens and stakeholders.
When done well, public engagement goes far beyond the "usual suspects" to include those members of the community whose voices have traditionally been left out of political and policy debates. Moreover it:
- helps people weigh a variety of perspectives and listen to each other's views;
- builds common understanding, manages differences and establishes direction for moving ahead on tough issues;
- builds trust and improves communication between the public and leaders;
- creates new opportunities for citizens to become involved in public problem solving and decision making.
While different contexts require different approaches and engagement strategies, Public Agenda always begins by framing issues for public deliberation. Our signature approach to this issue framing is called "Citizen Choicework."
2. How does public engagement differ from business as usual?
Today's leaders and officials are usually in the business of "managing" the public, often through various forms of pseudo-engagement such as carefully staged and tightly controlled "town halls." Rather than being given the opportunity to understand the pros and the cons of different policy options, the public is on the receiving end of focus group-tested "messaging" and talking points. While these strategies sometimes work in the short-term, over time they leave people feeling manipulated and suspicious. And they hinder people from thinking effectively about the problems and challenges facing their communities and the nation.
For their part, officials and decision makers who are legitimately interested in communicating with stakeholders are often unsure of how to engage a frequently cynical and sometimes hostile public.
3. Why is public engagement important?
The existing conditions for civic participation are far from ideal. Political spin, partisan rhetoric and media spectacle edge out honest and civil debate in public life. On issues in which a collaborative effort is needed to make progress, this polarizing climate has resulted in a cynical and disengaged citizenry and in shouting matches among activists and partisans.
For their part, leaders conduct insulated, jargon-laden debates among experts and special interests. As a result, policy makers and the public drift further and further apart. Lack of dialogue and engagement can create misunderstandings, dissension and backlashes that thwart progress.
Public engagement offers an alternative, in which citizens engage issues as well as each other, and leaders are given the chance to listen. As a result, new ideas emerge, new plans for action are hammered out, and new collaborations are made possible.When the public is involved in decision making, the resulting decisions are:
- More legitimate – because the process is open and transparent, and the public has provided input.
- Better quality – leaders of process are better informed about people’s needs; public engagement can force clarity about priorities and sometimes can generate totally new ideas.
- Less likely to meet resistance and delays; public engagement can help anticipate and address concerns in advance.
Public engagement helps build civic capacity and social capital, generates new partnerships, creates a knowledgeable & active public, and strengthens trust in officials. Effective engagement activities involve new people, bridge communications gaps in the community, and increase social equity.
4. When is public engagement useful?
It is impractical to think that public engagement can or should be applied to every issue. Citizens and leaders already have many competing demands on their time. Moreover, it takes considerable time and energy, and some resources, to organize public engagement effectively. When, then, is it most useful and appropriate?
Public engagement is most effective when applied to broad public issues that carry values conflicts and which cannot be effectively addressed without the input and cooperation of multiple stakeholders. It is less applicable to narrow, highly technical problems that require specialized expertise.
For example, public engagement works better for something like establishing priorities for the national budget than for determining the precise allocation of funding for each line item. . Similarly, it's more appropriate for addressing the best way for a community to create affordable housing than for how to actually build a new housing complex.
Public engagement can also be helpful when the public, or some part of it, especially wants to be involved in an issue. If people are angry, concerned or otherwise motivated to address a public problem, public engagement can channel that energy in constructive ways.
In short, public engagement is called for when issues are deadlocked, demand input from multiple stakeholders, require broad public support, or if the public is highly motivated to become actively involved.
The broad-based, solution-oriented deliberation and dialogue that public engagement creates are crucial first steps to working through challenging public issues, especially where deadlock has prevailed. While not appropriate for every single issue, in more cases then people realize it can be the key to effective action, and can lead to important results. Click here to read about several brief case studies of the impacts of public engagement.
6. Who initiates public engagement?
Anyone who wants to. Community organizations, school districts, government agencies, chambers of commerce, national associations and foundations have all launched successful public engagement initiatives. But while anyone can initiate a public engagement process, it is essential that it evolve with the support and involvement of a broad-based coalition in order to reach diverse sectors of a community and have a greater impact on public life.
7. What does Public Agenda offer to help citizens interested in using the tools of public engagement?
Public Agenda has created materials and services to help at every stage of a public engagement initiative. For information on our materials, see our list of Choicework Discussion Starters. For information on technical assistance we can provide, see our Resources and Assistance section.
8. Can you show me some examples of cases of public engagement at work?
Some recent public engagement initiatives at Public Agenda include: community conversations on bridging interfaith and cultural differences; the Students Face Up to the Nation's Finances curriculum on the federal budget deficit and national debt; Achieving the Dream, which works to improve the success rate of community college students; rebuilding and creating a new reality for Moss Point, Mississippi, and helping citizens of Biloxi, Mississippi, another hurricane-ravaged city, brainstorm on after-school programs; and work with parents, students, educators and community leaders in the Kansas City area to boost achievement in math and science.
You may also want to check out our case studies section, for more on what can be accomplished by engaging local communities and generating honest, productive dialogue.
CAPE, the Center for Advances in Public Engagement, is dedicated to engaging citizens more fully in public life. CAPE takes a leading role in a field dedicated to promoting new and better ways for citizens to confront pressing public problems, and to close the gap between leaders, experts and the public in the search for solutions. It is dedicated to re-engaging the larger public on important public matters, to create the possibility for dialogue that gets beneath the "snapshot" or "knee-jerk" views of public sentiment.
Research is also an important part of CAPE, and has three focal points: the Public Engagement Research Project, to better understand the dynamics and impacts of public engagement; the Digital Engagement Project, to explore the potentials of the Internet as a vehicle of engagement; and the Theory Building Project, to decisively push forward the theory that underlies the field's efforts.
10. How can I contact the Public Engagement team at Public Agenda?
Still have questions? The Public Engagement team at Public Agenda can be reached at PublicEngagement@publicagenda.org or by calling Lara Birnback at 212-686-6610, extension 44.
