Presented by Bill Rizzo
Local Government Specialist
UW-Extension Local Government Center bill.rizzo@ces.uwex.edu
608-265-6273

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Local governance (vs. government)
Traditional Local Governance
The nature of modern community problems
Collaborative Local Governance
Debate & Discussion vs. Dialogue & Deliberation
Tips for local leaders
Leading the way – opportunity is knocking

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More than government
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Addressing local issues
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Surfacing, naming and framing issues
Dialogue and deliberation about responses to issues
Generating alternative responses
Choosing a course of action
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Participants
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Local elected officials
Citizens
The civic sector (community organizations & institutions)

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Issues often named and framed only by elected officials and established stakeholders & groups
“Whole community” engagement rare
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Positions on issues often taken, promoted, defended
Discussion, debate to defend, promote positions
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Polarization can lead to a win-lose dynamic

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Elected Local Officials
 surfacing, naming, framing, discussion, debate, decisionmaking
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Civic Sector
 surfacing, naming, framing, adopting & promoting positions
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Citizens
 voting, reacting to alternatives or decisions already made

Problem
Type
I
II
III
Problem
Definition
Clear
Clear
Unclear
Problem
Solution
Clear
Unclear
Unclear
(Michael Huggins, Public Collaboration Associates, 2013)
Responsible
Parties
Expert
Expert
Constituent
Various/
Collaboration

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Complex, interdependent issues
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Lack a clear problem definition
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Conflicting values and perspectives
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Multiple stakeholders
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No right or wrong, only better or worse
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Key to success is collaboration & engagement

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Addressing community issues as a community-wide responsibility and activity
 elected officials, citizens, and community organizations and institutions all have a role…and a responsibility…to engage
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Underlying assumptions
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Regardless of demographic makeup, communities are highly diverse, in terms of needs and perspectives
The best local policy decisions are those which are wellinformed by the broadest set of perspectives, and which address the broadest set of community needs

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Local Elected Officials
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Convene and participate in community dialogues, learn, deliberate, generate alternative responses, make decisions
Civic Sector
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Convene and participate in community dialogues, learn, deliberate, and participate in generating alternative responses
Citizens
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Participate in community dialogues, learn, deliberate, and participate in generating alternative responses

(Taken, in part, from a PPT from Eric Giordano, WIPPS, 2013)
Debate
• Compete
• Argue
• Promote
Opinion
• See Majority
• Persuade/Dig in
• Tight Structure
• Express
• Usually fast
• Clarifies
• Win/Lose
Discussion
• Exchange
• Discuss
• Build relationships
• Understand
• Reach across
• Loose structure
• Listen
• Usually slow
• Clarifies
• No decision
Dialogue Deliberation
• Search for shared meaning
• Inquire, explore, discover
• Share stories, perspectives, and experiences
• Listen to learn
• Examine assumptions
• Explore alternative points of view
• Weigh alternatives
• Choose
• Make choices
• Seek overlap
• Seek common ground
• Flexible structure
• Learn
• Usually slow
• Clarifies
• Make decisions

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Work to establish a civil local governance environment
Elected officials often want to engage more effectively but often don’t know how…teach and encourage them
Start with a small, non-controversial issue to develop confidence and momentum
Find the champions and deliberation entrepreneurs, get them involved, and get their support
Share your successes
Remember that credit for success is infinitely divisible
Try to make collaborative governance a community habit

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If you’re an elected official, talk to your colleagues
If you’re not, talk to your elected officials
Start talking about collaborative governance locally
Start a local civility project
Become a trained dialogue facilitator
Tap into a network…read, learn, share
Convene an community issue dialogue, but start small and with a ‘cool’ or inert issue

Presented by Bill Rizzo
Local Government Specialist
UW-Extension Local Government Center bill.rizzo@ces.uwex.edu
608-265-6273