The Promise of Participatory Democracy

The foundational value of democracy—that the governed should be included in the governing process—is a radical concept.¹ Through elected representatives and civic engagement, the democratic emphasis on participation recognizes that citizens have a special role to play in the political process that is crucial to successful governance. Compared to other forms of government, this radical promise inherent to democracy offers a distinct opportunity for equality, transparency, and responsive policy.

Despite this potential, however, democracy around the globe is in crisis today. Three indicators of democratic health—trust in government, voter participation, and satisfaction with democracy—are in decline all over the world. In 2017, Edelman found that only 41 percent of the global population trusted their government to do what’s right.² In the United States, trust in the federal government is at historic lows, with only 17 percent of Americans saying they trusted Washington in April 2019, according to the Pew Research Center.³ Voter participation in presidential elections in many countries in Europe and the Americas has also fallen since the 1980s.⁴ Finally, of citizens in 27 countries polled by Pew, “a median of 51% are dissatisfied with how democracy is working in their country.”⁵

Of course, improving national democracy is a big challenge that will require implementing political reform that addresses our electoral systems,⁶ improves the capacity of our legislative branch,⁷ and limits the influence of money in politics.⁸ However, redesigning institutions alone won’t create the public engagement necessary for the fullest realization of democracy’s promise, nor give voice to marginalized communities, without efforts to understand and strengthen civic engagement and power.

Decades of political and social science research has shown that civic engagement can help address the kinds of abstract problems like low trust and satisfaction with government.⁹ In addition, giving more opportunity for democratic participation can help policymakers identify gaps in programs or address challenges experienced by residents that often aren’t heard through traditional political participation avenues. As a result, they can produce better policy to address public problems.¹⁰ Finally, a civic engagement-based approach to governance can empower residents in a more inclusive way, regardless of their legal status as citizens, ability to vote, or access to resources.¹¹ Therefore, in this report, we use the terms “citizen,” “resident,” and “constituent” interchangeably, using them to identify people who live or work in a city, but do not necessarily hold legal citizenship status.

Seeing these three benefits relies on first thinking about civic engagement in more creative and inclusive ways, and then creating institutions, roles, and procedures within government that support its application to policymaking.

First, thinking creatively about civic engagement means recognizing that it means more than blockwalking and ballot boxes; it can also involve power-building, organizing, and forms of participatory democracy that bring people into governance structures. And it can do so in ways that are more innovative and inclusive than traditional models by meeting people where they are—instead of expecting all participants to have the same access to resources like time, transportation, childcare, higher education, or deep familiarity with governing systems.

Second, these creative approaches and constituent outreach strategies can only be successful once implemented systematically and procedurally through institutions. Traditionally, constituent input on policymaking comes from the individual’s own initiative to vote, call a representative, attend a town hall, or other similarly reactive measures. Often, these opportunities also come at the end of the policymaking process when representatives are proposing a specific, already-designed policy—a stage when input is harder to actually act upon.

In contrast, a collaborative governance approach involves policymaking that supports civic engagement and participatory democracy in all stages of the governing process through intentional government structures and outreach. This approach to reimagining democracy involves ambitious values and goals, from improving relationships with residents to improving policy. An effective place to start experimenting with these big ideas, however, is at a smaller scale, within municipal government.

Exactly how municipal governments can do this involves an explanation of the unique opportunities and challenges cities present; collaborative government and institutionalized civic engagement models; levers of power in municipal government; and best practices for sharing these levers. Building upon this foundation, we will outline 11 promising models of collaborative government and civic engagement from cities around the world, highlighting how they have addressed six common challenges.