Comments on: || The Promise of Local Government as a ‘School of Democracy’ (Part Two): The City of DeLand, Florida. http://thepolity.net/wordpress/2009/11/05/the-promise-of-local-government-as-a-%e2%80%98school-of-democracy%e2%80%99-part-two-the-city-of-deland-florida/ Toward more sustainable ways of connecting citizens and government Tue, 04 May 2010 12:37:53 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: William Nylen http://thepolity.net/wordpress/2009/11/05/the-promise-of-local-government-as-a-%e2%80%98school-of-democracy%e2%80%99-part-two-the-city-of-deland-florida/comment-page-1/#comment-66 William Nylen Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:46:24 +0000 http://thepolity.net/wordpress/?p=131#comment-66 Justin: I agree! The problem is that most government officials, elected and career, here in the U.S. at least, take the 'technocratic approach' to public administration. In such an approach, the less public involvement in substantive decision making, the better. You can see this in their almost universal abhorence (from what I can see) of the proposed Hometown Democracy amendment here in Florida. That being the case, as in the story line of democracy everywhere, it is an activist public and elected advocates that must push for greater citizen inclusion and engagement. Evidence from more participatory systems in other parts of the world suggests that it's a combination of progressive citizen-activists and politicians, motivated by a participatory ideology, that is most effective. I look forward to such a formula materializing some day here in the U.S. It is certainly much more likely to take place at the local level than at the national level. Justin: I agree! The problem is that most government officials, elected and career, here in the U.S. at least, take the ‘technocratic approach’ to public administration. In such an approach, the less public involvement in substantive decision making, the better. You can see this in their almost universal abhorence (from what I can see) of the proposed Hometown Democracy amendment here in Florida. That being the case, as in the story line of democracy everywhere, it is an activist public and elected advocates that must push for greater citizen inclusion and engagement. Evidence from more participatory systems in other parts of the world suggests that it’s a combination of progressive citizen-activists and politicians, motivated by a participatory ideology, that is most effective. I look forward to such a formula materializing some day here in the U.S. It is certainly much more likely to take place at the local level than at the national level.

]]> By: Justin Westerman http://thepolity.net/wordpress/2009/11/05/the-promise-of-local-government-as-a-%e2%80%98school-of-democracy%e2%80%99-part-two-the-city-of-deland-florida/comment-page-1/#comment-35 Justin Westerman Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:31:28 +0000 http://thepolity.net/wordpress/?p=131#comment-35 Having only been in DeLand since August 2009, I have not had the chance to civically engage myself within the community. I am still registered to my permanent residence in East Orange County. Over the past four years, I have lived in three different counties in the Central Florida area. After reading through this post, I instantly became intrigued with what the role of a citizen encompasses. Personally, I grew up in a small town of about 2,200 (per the 2000 Census) which is the approximate amount of students at Stetson University. Therefore, I have not had the chance to even engage in any sort of politics there. Politics in Christmas, FL is generally reserved to a handful of farmers that have thousands of acres of land, my grandparents included. Generally, the issues raised are ones regarding land usage and anything of the like. After reading through Dr. Nylen’s first post, then reading this follow-up, I was instantly reminded of a discussion in class we had on national elections. In an article written by Wendy M. Rahn, John Brehm, and Neil Carlson, their thesis asserts that national elections serve as institutions for generating social capital(1). I believe the same concept can apply to local governments, as well. However, I was surprised to see the extremely low voter turnout presented in this article. A feasible plan to increase DeLand’s social capital could be to improve city-wide elections and attract highly educated and high-quality candidates to run for office. Though I do not have the entire interview Dr. Nylen conducted with Mayor Bob Apgar, my assumption is that he does not seem entirely optimistic about actively involving citizens within DeLand. Perhaps Mayor Apgar should have devised a plan to keep the citizens informed about local issues rather than taking citizen actions at face value. Taking a more proactive approach to the engagement of citizens within DeLand would have been the key to increasing the social capital of our city. 1. Rahn, Wendy M., John Brehm, and Neil Carlson. 1999. “National Elections as Institutions for Generating Social Capital.” In Civic Engagement in American Democracy, edited by Theda Skocpol and Morris P. Fiorina. Washington: Brookings. Having only been in DeLand since August 2009, I have not had the chance to civically engage myself within the community. I am still registered to my permanent residence in East Orange County. Over the past four years, I have lived in three different counties in the Central Florida area. After reading through this post, I instantly became intrigued with what the role of a citizen encompasses. Personally, I grew up in a small town of about 2,200 (per the 2000 Census) which is the approximate amount of students at Stetson University. Therefore, I have not had the chance to even engage in any sort of politics there. Politics in Christmas, FL is generally reserved to a handful of farmers that have thousands of acres of land, my grandparents included. Generally, the issues raised are ones regarding land usage and anything of the like.

After reading through Dr. Nylen’s first post, then reading this follow-up, I was instantly reminded of a discussion in class we had on national elections. In an article written by Wendy M. Rahn, John Brehm, and Neil Carlson, their thesis asserts that national elections serve as institutions for generating social capital(1). I believe the same concept can apply to local governments, as well. However, I was surprised to see the extremely low voter turnout presented in this article. A feasible plan to increase DeLand’s social capital could be to improve city-wide elections and attract highly educated and high-quality candidates to run for office. Though I do not have the entire interview Dr. Nylen conducted with Mayor Bob Apgar, my assumption is that he does not seem entirely optimistic about actively involving citizens within DeLand. Perhaps Mayor Apgar should have devised a plan to keep the citizens informed about local issues rather than taking citizen actions at face value. Taking a more proactive approach to the engagement of citizens within DeLand would have been the key to increasing the social capital of our city.

1. Rahn, Wendy M., John Brehm, and Neil Carlson. 1999. “National Elections as Institutions for Generating Social Capital.” In Civic Engagement in American Democracy, edited by Theda Skocpol and Morris P. Fiorina. Washington: Brookings.

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