8 Comments
User's avatar
Shingai Thornton's avatar

I can't remember if I've already shared this, but I really enjoyed Other Internet's research on neighborhood associations as "social technology". Great case studies.

https://otherinter.net/research/local-gov/

Expand full comment
Michael Adams's avatar

That's awesome, thanks for sharing! I'm working on a post about neighborhood associations and that piece will definitely have to be included!

Expand full comment
Greg Jordan-Detamore's avatar

Nice post! I've been thinking about this a bunch recently, as I just wrote a Substack post about U.S. civics education—specifically its general neglect of (1) policy implementation/the bureaucracy, and (2) state/local government: https://civicinsighter.com/p/us-civics-education-has-two-blind-spots

Building on that, something I have been thinking about (and perhaps could be a subject for a future post) is how if we broad the discussion of government to include a much bigger focus on policy implementation and the bureaucracy, what kinds of citizen engagement should also be brought more fully into the picture. At the level of politics and lawmaking, the common ways to get engaged are things like running for office, voting, contacting your elected officials, forming interest groups that lobby elected officials, etc., so that's what if often spotlighted when teaching “how you can get involved in government.” But I think there also needs to be highlighting of things like attending community meetings, submitting tangible suggestions on the details of proposed actions (e.g. here's a specific spot you could put a park bench for X specific reason), getting to know civil servants, working for government yourself, etc.

Expand full comment
Michael Adams's avatar

Very cool - we're on the same page! The sort of local civic engagement you described is exactly what we need more of, and I'm always looking for ways to bring people into it. Lots of work to do!

Expand full comment
Not a box of crap tower's avatar

This is so good!

Expand full comment
Michael Adams's avatar

Thank you!

Expand full comment
David Adams's avatar

I enjoyed the visual of the civic industrial base, but I was curious how/where “big business” fits in/disrupts this model

Expand full comment
Michael Adams's avatar

Yeah good question. Big companies will probably interact at several layers. Social events like food drives or trash pickups, financial support to political/policy orgs, and sometimes campaign donations across the various layers of government!

Expand full comment