Or not, as in the case of the Health Care hearings on Capitol Hill.
The conversation sponsored by the Obama administration about “Open Government Brainstorming” is continuing, as people continue to post comments about civic engagement – engaging citizens in public policy decision-making, at the local, state and federal levels. I’ve posted a few comments, about best practices. But the recent news raised a flag for me about this invitation for input, as I remarked in this post:
We’re all talking about how to engage citizens in the government’s decision making process – yet, there have been hearings this month on Capitol Hill on health care, convened by Sen. Baucus, where public input on single-payer health care has not been welcome, and has been obstructed. There were many doctors and nurses who wanted to participate and be heard, but they were excluded, and escorted out of the room. So I’m confused why we’re giving suggestions for models and tools, when there appears to be a basic question about the premise: to what extent is public input being invited?
TRANSFORMATIVE COACH: ABBY YANOW 