Governance and Citizen Engagement in the 21st Century

Abstract

This mini-symposium on governance and citizen engagement consists of two interesting and informative articles. Each article takes a different approach in urging governments to engage citizens in governance processes – public policy formulation processes in particular – in order to strengthen governance and decrease citizen alienation, and for the establishment of a multicultural organizational moral code to enable the conduct of business across national boundaries. These papers were originally presented on a panel at the annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration,” March 2, 2102, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fundamental assumption that underlies these articles is that citizen participation in governance using shared value sets is a necessity, not a nicety (Also see Kooiman, 2003). The implications of continuing citizen estrangement and alienation from governments appear to be approaching crisis levels in the United States (Box, 1998; King, 2011; King & Stivers, 1998), in many totalitarian nations in the Middle East and Asia (Farazmand 2002; 2009), and in the recent turbulence associated with the debt crises in Europe. Likewise, the increasing globalization of businesses, NGOs, and government alliances has been complicated and restricted by clashes of culturally-based values that cannot be resolved by simply expecting participants from one country to defer to the ethical codes of another. These articles thus present conceptual frameworks for citizen engagement that are rooted in the ethics of citizenship. “Sound Governance: Engaging Citizens through Collaborative Organizations,” by Ali Farazmand addresses the framing question, “Why is the issue of citizen engagement important enough to warrant a mini-symposium?” Or, “What are the stakes and/or the potential stakes?” Farazmand’s article articulates the need for citizen engagement compellingly: Citizen disengagement and alienation from government and governing is endemic in this era of rapid global change. Farazmand proposes that globalization of capital, “a process that transcends nation-states, economies, markets, Public Organiz Rev (2012) 12:219–221 DOI 10.1007/s11115-012-0190-y