An Experience-Based Planning Framework for Future Civic Leaders: Interweaving a Braided Rope of Democratic Theory

Abstract

Building on the lessons of the considerable successes of post-9/11 civic renewal leaders outlined in the previous chapters, I will now turn to developing a theoretical model that future elected officials, civic leaders, urban planners, sociologists, and interested citizens can use as a map through the steps for a successful democratic planning effort, including a braided theoretical rope of democratic theory to guide these future efforts. As I have argued throughout this book, the post-9/11 civic leaders’ shared professional ethos was guided by their belief in understanding of, and experience with participatory democracy as their goals and motivation for developing venues for effective citizen participation in collaborative visioning efforts that aimed to influence key decision makers in the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after 9/11. However, just providing opportunities for citizen participation is not enough to either really influence the direction of a large-scale civic project or to create a lasting social movement. The time process of guiding an inclusively democratic civic renewal movement from the first stage of organizing through experience and fact-sharing, teaching participants the process to work together as collaborators, deriving a feasible and desirable future vision with public and private decision makers through a process of implementation, and institutionalizing their participatory role in major decisions in the future is long and complex.KeywordsCivic EngagementDeliberative DemocracyPublic EventParticipatory DemocracyCivic LeaderThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.