The Participation Blog

Death and Consequence of Public Trust

Past issues of this newsletter have had lots of pieces on the decline of public trust and the critical need for the public sector to (re)build credibility with the people that it’s supposed to serve. I don’t think there’s a more obvious and glaring example of the consequence of distrust ...
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The Case for an Engaged Public

Just so happens that I’m writing this from Chicago (Second City, that Toddlin’ Town, the City of Broad Shoulders, Hog butcher for the world, or as the Wall Street Journal called it, Beirut by the lake) this week. I’m teaching the weeklong IAP2 Foundations in Public Participation course ...
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The Inform Level is Indispensable

If you’re at all familiar with the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Spectrum, you know that the range of public influence level categories begins with ‘Inform’. And if you learned about the Spectrum from a licensed IAP2 instructor, you should also have heard that ‘informing’ people, in and of ...
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Inside IAP2 Baseball

Are You Informed?

If you’re at all familiar with the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Public Participation Spectrum, you know that the listed range of public influence level categories begins with ‘Inform’. And if you learned about the Spectrum from a licensed IAP2 instructor, you should also have learned ...
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Sorry is Still the Hardest Word

The power of an apology can’t be dismissed. When people feel like they’ve been mistreated, nothing less than an apology by the perpetrator will suffice – if you want some kind of decent relationship with the mistreated. But it’s incredibly difficult for ego driven people to accept or do it. ...
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