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Pepperdine | School of Public Policy

Emergency Info: Campus Access Permitted – Update #16 Updated at Dec. 12, 7:21 p.m.

Davenport Institute Outside Research

Here you can find links to relevant studies and reports conducted by state and national level organizations that are making a significant impact on public engagement issues.

Outside Resources

The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) offers an extensive list of resources on deliberative tools and processes.

The Institute for Local Government also has a variety of resources designed for local governments seeking to engage their residents.

Other Reports and Studies

October 2017: New America published a new White Paper on rebuilding American Democracy in a time of deep divides called Building Civic Capacity in an Era of Democratic Crisis In this report, authors Hollie Russon-Gilman and K. Sabeel Rahman sketch out some of the central challenges and tensions they see, as well as some potential avenues for renewal and transformation.

June 2013: Representatives of the White House, Federal agencies, civil society, and academia convened in a June 2013 Workshop on Public Participation and Open Government. The group released two documents intended to promote and strengthen the role of public participation and open government. "Priorities for Public Participation and Open Government" outlined eight recommendations for strengthening the role of participation in open government and for improving metrics for assessing participation. The second document is a set of public participation commitments for the Obama Administration's Second National Action Plan on Government. 

September 2011:The Institute for Local Government Released a new resource for local officials to use in evaluating how well their public engagement efforts are working.  These Rapid Review Worksheets allow organizers to collect information from both participants and local officials.

July 2011: UK-based public engagement non-profit "Involve" released a report, "Making the Case for Public Engagement," as a resource for those trying to explain the benefits of civic engagements to civic leaders who may be ambivalent about costs and benefits.

May 2011: National League of City's "Beyond Civility" offers resources for governments seeking to "implement a culture of democratic governance in their communities."

October 2010: Alliance for Innovation "Connected Communities: Local Government as a Partner in Citizen Engagement and Community Building" is a report that highlights the differences between exchanges with citizens and civic engagement and offers valuable information for effectively promoting and conducting citizen engagement.

October 2010: National League of Cities' "Making Local Democracy Work" is a report from a national survey of municipal leaders on the importance of public engagement.

April 2010: In collaboration with the Kettering Foundation, Matt Leighninger at the Deliberative Democracy Consortium has just released "Creating Spaces for Change", which highlights the results of DDC's "No Better Time" Conference, held at UNH in July, 2009.

February 2010: The National League of Cities' Research Brief, "Municipal Officials' Views on Public Engagement", reports the results of a national survey of local government leaders. The study focuses on views and habits regarding locally led civic participation.