Nabatchi publishes report on evaluating citizen participation

Tina Nabatchi, assistant professor of public administration in the Maxwell School, recently wrote “A Manager’s Guide to Evaluating Citizen Participation,” a guide for government program managers to determine the success of their efforts to improve citizen participation.

President Obama’s 2009 Open Government Memorandum and Open Government Initiative aimed to increase public participation in federal decision-making, and the expectation that public managers engage citizens exists across all levels of government. With government agencies facing fiscal constraints in the foreseeable future, they will need to understand ways to effectively engage citizens and demonstrate how effective citizen involvement leads to well-run, cost-effective programs.

In “A Manager’s Guide to Evaluating Citizen Participation,” Nabatchi establishes steps to implement and manage citizen participation initiatives and explains how to assess the impact of those initiatives. An appendix to the report includes worksheets to assist with evaluations.

The IBM Center for the Business of Government published the report. The IBM Center uses research stipends and events to stimulate research and discussion on new approaches to improving the effectiveness of government at the federal, state, local and international levels.

“A Manager’s Guide to Evaluating Citizen Participation” is available for download from the center’s website. To request hard copies of the report, contact the IBM Center at businessofgovernment@us.ibm.com or by calling 202-551-9342.