Sustaining Public Engagement: Embedded Deliberation in Local Communities

“Sustaining Public Engagement: Embedded Deliberation in Local Communities,” features concrete examples of sustained community-led dialogue and problem-solving efforts, and should be of interest to researchers and community organizers. The report notes that the most successful civic engagement efforts not only address particular public issues such as school redistricting, domestic violence, or racism, but also improve the quality of local democratic governance. “Those who build institutions and practices of public engagement often work at two levels,” according to the authors. “Not only do they address urgently felt needs in their communities, but, although they may not have intended it, they also improve the machinery of democratic self-government.”