Thanks for this, Safar. Here in the US, opportunities for participatory democracy vary widely by state. In my state of Washington we have a range of opportunities from advisory committees to ballot initiatives. A grass roots group close to me was able to get a bond initiative to build a community pool on the ballot. That's not possible in many states.
I'm looking forward to your work on land ownership.
I did come across a few participatory solutions throughout America. I've not actually experienced it in action myself, though I did visit a couple of Transition towns where different versions are employed. The bond initiative sounds interesting. How does that work (theoretically and in practice)?
A feature of government in Washington is an entity called a special purpose district. Examples are water and/or sewer districts, local improvement districts, cemetery districts, school districts, and diking and drainage districts. These are very local. They have directly elected commissioners and can raise taxes.
This instance was a joint effort between the parks and recreation district and a volunteer committee.
Thanks for responding, John, I realised the question was a probable big ask! I suppose my next question is really if they really represent the grassroots base or are more elitist? And a related question, do they expand conversations or are they restrained to existing structures?
Good questions all. This project was years in the making. Bond initiatives need 60% support to pass. The volunteer committee showed up outside grocery stores, at the farmer's market, put out signs, held public meetings. Among the District's 15,000 voters, it got 62.5% on a 62% turnout, unheard of for an odd year election. So I'd say as good as it can get.
Going beyond existing structures is tougher, but not impossible. Getting a new special purpose district off the ground is hard.
That is a good result. Encouraging for those who are committed to the special purpose district too. The feeling of being involved helps confront apathy too. You must have some motivated neighbours!
Of course, we're seeing local engagement play out in other ways, as school boards ban books. Part of the reason this is possible is lack of engagement in district elections. Republicans have been strategically and deliberately taking over at this level for decades. That kind of overreach is sparking increased engagement, with these boards being voted out. Local politics matters!
First, I am so looking forward to this year's postcard challenge. Thank you!
Participatory democracy is a new concept to me. I learned something here. Thank you. I wonder if you've come across the work of Peter Reason whom I studied briefly during a metholodies course while doing my doctoral work. He is a pioneer in participatory action research and publishes here on Substack: https://peterreason.substack.com
I did come across his work! I did some action research - evaluating students' work for deep understanding with a small group of psychology students. At the time I was pee'd off with changes in the 16-18 yrs curriculum which almost penalised deep thinking in examination criteria and the 'teaching to the exam' we were encouraged to do. I had no idea he had a Substack. Thank you!
You are a gift to the creative minds of your students. Each mind that learns to think deeply and creatively is a mind the world needs. Thank you for your care and the work that you do. Perhaps you and Peter Reason will connect. I do not know him personally, but I appreciate his work and philosophy on scholarship. He came on board briefly as a visiting scholar after I finished at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
Excellent article, Safar. I so enjoy a well-written, well-resourced article and the discussion that follows.
Thank you for the link to the pdf, "A Guide to Talking About Racism." Looking forward to reading that. Although I teach institutional/systemic racism in my American Culture course, I need to find a safe place to honestly discuss many aspects of racism, but haven't found that place yet.
As for participatory democracy, I wonder if anyone here in Japan (besides activists) have even heard the term. I want to know more examples and possibilities!
Ok! I was thinking about doing a local Californian example and also Kerala which was a region wide initiative, compare the small with the large. I could also do a feature on Transition Towns and what can be learned from them in terms of decision-making too. It was good to hear about John's examples.
Meanwhile, here's a discussion in the context of Japan:
I'm glad the Guide could be of practical use to you. There were differences in responses between Scotland and England, in that some ways of talking about race worked better in Scotland than England and vice-versa. It's good to have the conversation and I hear you about finding the safe place to have it.
Legislation required that our school had to update its equality policy to be discussed at a staff meeting. I swear I was the only one who had read it and had an enormous list of proposed changes. I didn't go in expecting to dominate the meeting, and had to counter the "PC b.s." responses I got. What helped me was to adopt a Socratic approach of trying to get them to wear the shoes of a person who experiences discrimination. Tomorrow, you're in a wheelchair, are you still a person or suddenly a disabled person? Ok, we change that section to person with a disability. Now, let's talk about removing obstacles to your educational experience. The Sociology department is offsite, how are you going to get to class on time? Is it accessible at all? The school had a large Muslim intake with intercultural conflicts, so as you can imagine, it was going to be a very long meeting and they decided to set up a panel to work on it instead.
I was disappointed they didn't see it as an important issue to discuss, but understood it in context. Meetings are held in the twilight hours after a long day's work, with still more to do when they get home and lots more on the agenda. Poor planning on management's part, which showed they expected it to be waved through on first draft too.
If the conversation can't be held without rancour in an educational setting, then where can it?
I've downloaded a copy of the guide and will add it to the community area (distribution is free with credit to the authors). I'll add the Japanese example link to that page too.
Safar, I tried sending an email to you here on Substack. It's a rather long message, my reaction to the article you linked to on "The Role of Civil Society and Participatory Governance in Japanese Democracy: Citizen Activities and the Concept of a Citizen Municipality" (which I can't locate at the moment). Wondering if you received it...🤔
Yes! I did get it. It was fascinating, especially the patriarchal nature of the structure, but I'm having trouble finding the message again in order to reply. I am determined to beat this! However, just in case, would you be able to forward it to safar-fiertze@protonmail.com ? Thank you so much for sending it, and for going into so much detail. I really appreciate it x
Thanks for this, Safar. Here in the US, opportunities for participatory democracy vary widely by state. In my state of Washington we have a range of opportunities from advisory committees to ballot initiatives. A grass roots group close to me was able to get a bond initiative to build a community pool on the ballot. That's not possible in many states.
I'm looking forward to your work on land ownership.
I did come across a few participatory solutions throughout America. I've not actually experienced it in action myself, though I did visit a couple of Transition towns where different versions are employed. The bond initiative sounds interesting. How does that work (theoretically and in practice)?
A feature of government in Washington is an entity called a special purpose district. Examples are water and/or sewer districts, local improvement districts, cemetery districts, school districts, and diking and drainage districts. These are very local. They have directly elected commissioners and can raise taxes.
This instance was a joint effort between the parks and recreation district and a volunteer committee.
Thanks for responding, John, I realised the question was a probable big ask! I suppose my next question is really if they really represent the grassroots base or are more elitist? And a related question, do they expand conversations or are they restrained to existing structures?
Good questions all. This project was years in the making. Bond initiatives need 60% support to pass. The volunteer committee showed up outside grocery stores, at the farmer's market, put out signs, held public meetings. Among the District's 15,000 voters, it got 62.5% on a 62% turnout, unheard of for an odd year election. So I'd say as good as it can get.
Going beyond existing structures is tougher, but not impossible. Getting a new special purpose district off the ground is hard.
That is a good result. Encouraging for those who are committed to the special purpose district too. The feeling of being involved helps confront apathy too. You must have some motivated neighbours!
Of course, we're seeing local engagement play out in other ways, as school boards ban books. Part of the reason this is possible is lack of engagement in district elections. Republicans have been strategically and deliberately taking over at this level for decades. That kind of overreach is sparking increased engagement, with these boards being voted out. Local politics matters!
Absolutely!
Safar,
First, I am so looking forward to this year's postcard challenge. Thank you!
Participatory democracy is a new concept to me. I learned something here. Thank you. I wonder if you've come across the work of Peter Reason whom I studied briefly during a metholodies course while doing my doctoral work. He is a pioneer in participatory action research and publishes here on Substack: https://peterreason.substack.com
Here is an article he penned: https://www.peterreason.net/wp-content/uploads/Handbook_Introduction.pdf
I did come across his work! I did some action research - evaluating students' work for deep understanding with a small group of psychology students. At the time I was pee'd off with changes in the 16-18 yrs curriculum which almost penalised deep thinking in examination criteria and the 'teaching to the exam' we were encouraged to do. I had no idea he had a Substack. Thank you!
You are a gift to the creative minds of your students. Each mind that learns to think deeply and creatively is a mind the world needs. Thank you for your care and the work that you do. Perhaps you and Peter Reason will connect. I do not know him personally, but I appreciate his work and philosophy on scholarship. He came on board briefly as a visiting scholar after I finished at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
Excellent article, Safar. I so enjoy a well-written, well-resourced article and the discussion that follows.
Thank you for the link to the pdf, "A Guide to Talking About Racism." Looking forward to reading that. Although I teach institutional/systemic racism in my American Culture course, I need to find a safe place to honestly discuss many aspects of racism, but haven't found that place yet.
As for participatory democracy, I wonder if anyone here in Japan (besides activists) have even heard the term. I want to know more examples and possibilities!
Ok! I was thinking about doing a local Californian example and also Kerala which was a region wide initiative, compare the small with the large. I could also do a feature on Transition Towns and what can be learned from them in terms of decision-making too. It was good to hear about John's examples.
Meanwhile, here's a discussion in the context of Japan:
https://www.jpsa-web.org/wp-content/uploads/JPSA_TSUBOGO_final_July_9_2014.pdf
I'm glad the Guide could be of practical use to you. There were differences in responses between Scotland and England, in that some ways of talking about race worked better in Scotland than England and vice-versa. It's good to have the conversation and I hear you about finding the safe place to have it.
Legislation required that our school had to update its equality policy to be discussed at a staff meeting. I swear I was the only one who had read it and had an enormous list of proposed changes. I didn't go in expecting to dominate the meeting, and had to counter the "PC b.s." responses I got. What helped me was to adopt a Socratic approach of trying to get them to wear the shoes of a person who experiences discrimination. Tomorrow, you're in a wheelchair, are you still a person or suddenly a disabled person? Ok, we change that section to person with a disability. Now, let's talk about removing obstacles to your educational experience. The Sociology department is offsite, how are you going to get to class on time? Is it accessible at all? The school had a large Muslim intake with intercultural conflicts, so as you can imagine, it was going to be a very long meeting and they decided to set up a panel to work on it instead.
I was disappointed they didn't see it as an important issue to discuss, but understood it in context. Meetings are held in the twilight hours after a long day's work, with still more to do when they get home and lots more on the agenda. Poor planning on management's part, which showed they expected it to be waved through on first draft too.
If the conversation can't be held without rancour in an educational setting, then where can it?
I've downloaded a copy of the guide and will add it to the community area (distribution is free with credit to the authors). I'll add the Japanese example link to that page too.
Thank you, Louise!
Safar, I tried sending an email to you here on Substack. It's a rather long message, my reaction to the article you linked to on "The Role of Civil Society and Participatory Governance in Japanese Democracy: Citizen Activities and the Concept of a Citizen Municipality" (which I can't locate at the moment). Wondering if you received it...🤔
Hi Louise,
Yes! I did get it. It was fascinating, especially the patriarchal nature of the structure, but I'm having trouble finding the message again in order to reply. I am determined to beat this! However, just in case, would you be able to forward it to safar-fiertze@protonmail.com ? Thank you so much for sending it, and for going into so much detail. I really appreciate it x