Connections 2021 - The Public and Institutions: Fractured or United?

Journalist and author Scott London interviewed Kettering Foundation senior associate John McKnight on McKnight’s new book, Associational Life: Democracy’s Power Source, to be published by the Kettering Foundation Press. McKnight contends that citizen associations are vital to democracy but that they have been weakened in recent decades by a confluence of social, economic, and technological forces. Among them is the rise of professional service providers who now do much of the work once carried out by citizens. McKnight argues that what is needed is to increase the “citizen space,” where people can come together, discover common purpose, and build productive capacity.

Kettering Foundation senior associate Maura Casey has written on an effort in Alabama to increase community participation by starting small newspapers. The idea to begin publishing newspapers came about in a series of deliberations run by the nonprofit PACERS organization, which has supported rural communities and towns in Alabama for 40 years. Those deliberations brought up the question: “What was the best thing residents could do for their communities?” The answer was, by consensus, “publish local newspapers,” and so the PACERS Rural Community Newspaper Network was born. It has produced four newspapers, all published twice this year so far, in the towns of Beatrice, Camp Hill, Pintlala, and Packers Bend. Casey reports on how the effort is going as a journalism project and, most important, as a way to strengthen local communities.

Lorie Higgins is an extension professional and professor at the University of Idaho in the Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology. In this article, she writes about efforts of the Western Community Assessment Network (WeCAN), which uses Community Review (CR), an assessment and strategic planning process designed for towns of 10,000 people or fewer. A CR is tailored to the local community and codeveloped with local leaders, business owners, and residents. Higgins uses observations during Community Review events and survey data across 13 small communities in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming to examine why a process meant to be inclusive still is not able to spark wider participation in some communities. She explores impediments and makes suggestions concerning the need to increase local leadership, broaden opportunities for involvement, and communicate clearly to welcome more people to the process.

Brian N. Williams is an associate professor at the University of Virginia. He describes an effort led by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, with the assistance of the Public Engagement in Governance Looking, Listening and Learning Laboratory (PEGLLLLab) within the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. These two entities have developed, implemented, and facilitated a series of “courageous conversations” between police and community members. The meetings took place in Danville, Newport News, Norfolk, Prince William County, and Richmond. This article explores the implications of these dialogues.