NEW YORK UNIVERSITY ROBERT F. WAGNER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC SERVICE PADM-GP 4116 Participatory Policymaking January Term 2017, Wednesday 1/3 Wednesday 1/17 6:00pm 9:00pm Waverly 367 Professor Michael Freedman-Schnapp Contact Information Email: mfs318@nyu.edu Phone: 347-534-6919 Office hours: by appointment Course Pre-requisites Students must have completed P11.1022 (Introduction to Public Policy). Course Description and Objectives Though the policy-making process is complex, with a host of actors and competing interests, public policy is traditionally shaped by elected officials, administrative agencies and organized interest groups. There are many avenues for policies to be informed by the lived experience of members of low-income and marginalized communities, however, their participation is often hidden and/or undervalued. Public servants and policy-makers can provide proactive opportunities for communities to assert their own priorities and rights through mechanisms like public planning processes or participatory budgeting. Similarly, marginalized communities can self-organize and even form common cause with broader interests to create more just public policies. In this course, we will examine the essential concepts of power what it is, how it is used, how groups and communities can expand and strengthen their political power, and how public officials can share theirs. We will explore strategies for initiating participatory policymaking from above (e.g., government/ policymakers initiating participatory approaches to decision-making, the opening of previously hidden datasets to the public) and below (e.g., grassroots communities mobilizing to influence policy), and the democratic tradition of challenging traditional power structures. Case studies will include a landmark set of laws passed in 2013 in New York City to advance oversight of the Police Department, the global expansion of Participatory Budgeting, grassroots campaigns to improve public transit, and the effect of "open data" laws on policy formation. Students will learn about the mechanisms often used to advance community-driven efforts such as public planning processes, public hearings, meeting with elected officials, public information campaigns, and mass mobilizations. Course Requirements This is a discussion-based course. We will be exploring issues in a community-learning environment, and as such, class preparation and participation by everyone are absolutely essential. Students are expected to read required texts in advance and be prepared to contribute to class discussions. There is both a
speaking and listening component to participation: sharing your ideas and reflecting on/responding to the ideas of others. Students will be required to: 1. Attempt to read as much of the required readings before the course commences, given the compressed schedule of the course. 2. On one day, write reading responses for one topic (including the optional readings) due at 9am the morning of the class. These responses will be used to seed discussion of the topic covered. Additional details will be provided in late December. 3. Write an additional reading response for at least one other topic (including the optional readings) due January 24. 4. Lastly, students will work in groups or individually to write a final paper about a policy arena of their choosing. This could take the form of a real-world case study or an exploration of one of the topics in the class. Due February 28 or by special arrangement. More detailed assignment instructions will be posted on NYU Classes. Relative Weight of Assignments Class Participation 30% Reading Response 1-15% Reading Response 2-10% Final Paper 45% Course Schedule (All readings are available on NYU Classes, except where links are provided below.) Wednesday, January 3 Power and Participation as Currently Exercised o Understanding Power o Participatory Governance Theory & History o Referenda & Deliberative Democracy o Critiques of Participatory Policymaking Monday, January 8 Opening Up the System o Participatory Budgeting o Community Planning o Open Data o Guest Speaker: Joyce Li, New York City Council, Innovation Projects & Partnerships Director Wednesday, January 10 Participation through Collective Action o Community & Issue Organizing o Participatory Action Research o Guest Speaker: TBA Wednesday, January 17 o Loose Ends o Guest Speaker: Catherine Zinnel, Office of Council Member Brad Lander
Readings I expect students to have read as many of the required readings as possible before class. On one day, write reading responses for one topic (including the optional readings) due at 9am the morning of the class. These responses will be used to seed discussion of the topic covered. Additional details will be provided in late December. An additional reading response will be required to be submitted by Jan 20. Class 1: Jan 3 Power and Participation as Currently Exercised Introduction and Overview; Understanding Power; Hayden, T. 2012. Participatory Democracy: From Port Huron to Occupy Wall Street. The Nation, March 27, 2012. Alinsky, S. 1971. Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals. New York: Random House. o The Purpose : o Fung, A., and Wright, EO. 2003. Thinking about Empowered Participatory Governance. In Deepening Democracy, Institutional Innovations in Empowered Participatory Governance. Eds., Fung and Wright. New York: Verso. Pages 3-42. o Students for a Democratic Society. 1962. The Port Huron Statement. Referenda & Participatory Democracy Fishkin, JS. 2009. When the People Speak: Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation. New York: Oxford University Press. o Democratic Aspirations (pages 1-31) o Competing Visions (pp 65-94) Video: PBS Special on What s Next California https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewealjc4ors#t=103 : o Gastil, J., and Richards, R. 2013. Making Direct Democracy Deliberative through Random Assemblies. Politics & Society, 41(2):253-281. o Jacobs, LR., Lomax Cook F., and Delli Carpini, MX. 2009. Talking Together: Public Deliberation and Political Participation in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapter 1 (pages 1-23) o Video: Citizen s Initiative Review Oregon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py8xfqt4ds4 Critiques of Participatory Policymaking Berkey-Gerard, Mark. Community Board Reform, Gotham Gazette. March 6, 2006. http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/open-government/3178-community-board-reform Johnson, Patrice D. Decentralization vs. Centralization in New York City Public Schools August 8, 2006. https://patricedj.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/decentralization-vs-centralization-in-new-york-city-publicschools/ Irvin, RA., and Stansbury, J. 2004. Citizen Participation in Decision Making: Is it Worth the Effort? Public Administration Review, 64(1):55-65. : o Forman, Seth. Community Boards Gotham Gazette. Sep 20, 2000. http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/government/1587-community-boards o Risner, G., and Bergan, D. 2012. The Perils of Participation: The Effect of Participation Messages on Citizens Policy Support. Journal of Public Transportation, 15(2):137-156. o Hauptmann, E. 2001. Can Less Be More? Leftist Deliberative Democrats Critique of Participatory Democracy. Polity, XXXIII(3):397-421.
Class 2: Jan 8 Participation through Opening Up the System Community Planning & Public Processes Arnstein, Sherry. A Ladder of Citizen Participation, Journal of the American Institution of Planners. 1969. Forester, John. 1987. Planning in the Face of Conflict, Journal of the American Planning Association. From The City Reader Fourth Edition. Leighninger, Matt, et al. Making Public Participation Legal. Report. Working Group on Legal Frameworks for Public Participation. October 2013. Open Data Hausenblas, Michael. Five Star Data http://5stardata.info/en/ Eder, Derek. OpenGov Voices: Demystifying Chicago politics with Councilmatic. Jan 25, 2016. http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2016/01/25/opengov-voices-demystifying-chicago-politics-withcouncilmatic/ O Reilly, Tim. Chapter 2. Government As a Platform. 2013. http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000000774/ch02.html ESRI. New York City Focuses on Lead Poisoning Prevention with GIS, ESRI Newsletter. Spring 2003. http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/spring03articles/new-york-city Campbell, Craig. New York City Open Data: A Brief History. Ash Center for Innovation. March 8, 2017. http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/new-york-city-open-data-a-brief-history-991 o Kossow, Niklas. Can we trust open data from an authoritarian government? Oct 25, 2015. http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2015/10/26/opengov-voices-the-duality-of-open-data-inan-authoritarian-context/ o Mendelson, Zoe. Mapping New York's Vacant Lots, To Use Them To Create A More Vibrant City. Nov 10, 2014. http://www.fastcoexist.com/3038089/mapping-new-yorks-vacant-lots-touse-them-to-create-a-more-vibrant-city o Horrigan, John and Lee Rainie. American s Views on Open Government Data. April 21, 2015. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/21/open-government-data/ Participatory Budgeting Lerner, J., and Secondo, D. 2012. By the People, For the People: Participatory Budgeting from the Bottom Up in North America, Journal of Public Deliberation, 8(2): Article 2. Marquetti, A., Schonerwald da Silva, CE., and Campbell, A. 2012. Participatory Economic Democracy in Action: Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre, 1989-2004. Review of Radical Political Economics, 44(1):62-81. Wampler, B., and Touchton, M. 2014. Brazil lets its citizens make decisions about city budgets. Here s what happened. Washington Post. January 22, 2014. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/01/22/brazil-let-its-citizens-makedecisions-about-city-budgets-heres-what-happened/ Sangha, S. 2012. Putting in Their Two Cents. New York Times. March 30, 2012. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/nyregion/for-some-new-yorkers-a-grand-experiment-inparticipatory-budgeting.html Semple, K. 2015. A Dog Run in Queens With a Price That Stuns: $1 Million October 7, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/nyregion/astoria-residents-cheer-plans-for-a-dog-run-but-frownat-the-estimated-cost-1-million.html o Wampler, B. 2012. Participatory Budgeting: Core Principles and Key Impacts. Journal of Public Deliberation, 8(2):Article 12.
Class 3: Jan 10 Participation through Collective Action Community & Issue Organizing Community Safety Act Case Study Articles posted on Classes site Riders Alliance Case Study Articles posted on Classes site Sen, R. 2003. Stir it Up: Lessons in Community Organizing and Advocacy. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. o Introduction: Community Organizing Yesterday and Today (pages xliii xlix) o Chapter 3: Picking the Good Fight (pages 48-78) Alinsky, S. 1971. Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals. New York: Random House. o Tactics Andrews, Kenneth T. How Protest Works, The New York Times. Oct 21, 2017. Diaz, Clarisa. Residents Push MTA for Upgrades at Fourth Avenue Station WNYC Radio. Apr 24, 2017. https://project.wnyc.org/design-by-community/#!/fourth-avenue-transit-hub Freakonomics Radio Do Boycotts Work? Podcast. January 21, 2016. http://freakonomics.com/podcast/do-boycotts-work-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/ o Alinsky, S. 1971. Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals. New York: Random House. The Education of an Organizer and In the Beginning o Hoffman, Alexander. 2003. House by House, Block By Block. New York: Oxford University Press. Chapter 2: Miracle on 174 th Street, pp. 18 76. Focus on pp 30 48 & 69 76. o Stoltzfus, Daniel et al. 2007. The Road to the Safe Housing Act Case Study. Participatory Action Research CAAAV & Urban Justice Center. 2015. No Access. Report. Ozer, EJ., and Wright, D. 2012. Beyond School Spirit: The Effects of Youth-Led Participatory Action Research in Two Urban High Schools. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22(2):267-283. Fisher, C. 2011. Implications of Participation and Equality in the Research Process for Health Promotion Practice: Domestic Violence as an Example. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 22(2):119-123. o Right to the City Alliance. 2010. We Call These Projects Home: Solving the Housing Crisis from the Ground Up. http://www.cdp-ny.org/report/we_call_these_projects_home.pdf o Northridge ME, Shoemaker K, Jean-Louis B, Ortiz B, Swaner R, Vaughan RD, Cushman LF, Hutchinson VE, Nicholas SW. 2005. What matters to communities? Using community-based participatory research to ask and answer questions regarding the environment and health. Environmental Health Perspectives, 113 (Suppl. I), 34-41. o Fine, M., Ayala, J., and Zaal, M. 2012. Public Science and Participatory Policy Development: Reclaiming Policy as a Democratic Project. Journal of Education Policy, 1-8. Class 4: Jan 17 Goldenberg & Shaw. Paid Family Leave in New York State. Spring 2017. [TO BE POSTED] Bozzo, Siwicki & Sutkowi. The Challenges of Education Organizing: A Story from Central Brooklyn. Spring 2017. [TO BE POSTED] Some readings may be reallocated to this day in order to accommodate various guest speakers.