Democracy requires public participation and community engagement to engender a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Local governments have a responsibility to engage their community members in a robust and equitable manner in order to effectively carry out the key functions of government, such as crafting and implementing laws, budgets, plans, directives, and strategic visions. However, government practices often fall short of this ideal, even though many take an active interest in improving their approaches. The inability of many local governments to strongly and authentically engage their constituents in public decisions has contributed to producing, maintaining, and even worsening social and health inequities that persist today.
An equitable, inclusive community engagement approach to public decisions ensures that the people most affected and most marginalized, especially those who have been historically left out of these conversations (eg, low-income people, returning citizens, communities of color, recent immigrants, speakers of English as a second language), have a say in the decisions that affect their lives. Inclusive civic engagement results in government processes, practices, and decisions that are more responsive to community priorities, avoid many unforeseen consequences, and create relationships that hold local governments accountable. Effective community engagement can also lead to decisions that result in a more equitable distribution of the drivers of good health, like where public transit infrastructure is located or investments in neighborhood parks, schools, or housing. Additionally, giving people more control over the decisions that affect their lives and their communities has positive impacts on health. Most important, improvements in government practices, such as local agencies’ engagement strategies, can lead to lasting changes in organizational culture, policies, and processes that extend long after any one public decisionmaking process. With a greater commitment to intentionally increasing equity in their community engagement efforts, local governments are in a better position to address social and health inequities and promote access to resources, services, and programs that help people lead healthier lives.
A number of strategies can be used to build more effective community engagement and public participation — particularly of groups who are traditionally left out. This blog post highlights 4 core functions of local government, examining how current “business as usual” efforts to engage the community can reinforce inequitable outcomes and then offering promising strategies that advance more robust and inclusive community engagement and participation.
[For more on this story by Katie Hannon Michel, Cesar De La Vega, & Tina Yuen, go to https://medium.com/changelab-s...65-9634-eb137a7d0494]
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