4 Ways to Increase Citizen Participation with Local Government

Local governments exist to provide services to their citizens, but without ongoing participation from the public, it can be difficult to form a clear picture of how to best go about that. When citizens engage, it helps government leaders better identify and understand problems, build relationships within the community and establish greater trust in local government among the public. Not only does increased citizen participation lead to more informed decision making, but it also adheres to the democratic principles that the U.S. was founded on.

All local government leaders want increased citizen engagement. The question is: how do we achieve it? Starting with a scaled approach is often the best plan to increasing citizen engagement with local government. You don’t have to knock it out of the park with large-scale programs at first. Start with small touchpoints and programs and build up from there. What works for one municipality might not work for yours, but if you are looking to scale up citizen engagement, here are a few ways to get started.

Community Newsletters

Regular communication touchpoints with your residents is one of the easiest and lowest stakes ways to begin building citizen engagement. Depending on your city’s resources and staffing, a newsletter to the community might look like a quarterly multi-page print newsletter mailed to citizen homes, a monthly PDF newsletter available for download on your city’s website, or even a weekly email newsletter with the most up-to-date information. Content can range from hard-hitting government news that citizens should be informed about to human interest stories that personalize your agency. Newsletters are also a great way to inform the public about hard-to-advertise services and programs.

Citizen Education Programs

Increased participation often begins with education. Many citizens don’t get involved because they don’t know where or how to get started. Building a knowledge and understanding of how their local government operates is often the first building block to creating more engaged citizens.

Citizen education programs can take many forms, from open houses to police ride-alongs. Some cities, like Greer, South Carolina, are even implementing city orientation classes. These classes are available to both new citizens, as well as the city’s lifelong residents. Not only do the city orientation classes help residents better understand their local government, but they are building a pipeline of citizens interested in serving on local boards, committees and commissions. Not every citizen who graduates from one of these classes may choose to get involved at a higher level, of course, but at the very least, residents leave the class better armed to serve as government ambassadors to others in their community.

Advisory Boards

Citizen advisory boards are a common avenue for the public to participate in local government. These boards, task forces or committees allow members of the public to weigh in on policy issues in a variety of areas and help develop solutions. They can be used for almost any department, from law enforcement to human services to parks and recreation. Apart from allowing citizens greater input on local government happenings, they can also help to build trust and two-way communication.

For more information on best practices for setting up and structuring these sorts of boards, please visit the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC)’s page on Advisory Boards and Commissions.

Digital Engagement Tools

Digital tools that facilitate two-way communication between citizens and government provide another easy threshold to cross in the quest for increased citizen engagement. These tools are often intuitive and easily accessible to a wider array of citizens, helping to lower barriers to public participation.

One such tool that helps facilitate more efficient interactions between citizens and government is a CRM or constituent relationship manager. These tools, such as Comcate’s CRM / 311 system, are easy for both citizens and government employees to use and can help provide a better customer relationship experience for residents. Tools such as a CRM also provide a flexible set of building blocks for launching programs and tackling new issues down the road for when you want to scale up efforts.

More Ideas for Citizen Engagement

These are just a few of the many ways your municipality can start building greater citizen engagement. For more ideas, as well as more in-depth information on building out some of these tactics, please visit the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC)’s Community Engagement Resources page.