[cma-l] New DEMOS report - Democratising Engagement

[Cathy Aitchison]

To be fair, there's very little mention of the media at all, ie. the 
emphasis seems to be on the participatory.

It could be included in some of the recommendations boxes, eg [my square
brackets]:
'· Improve communication through the use of more direct forms of
communication like rallies, door-to-door visits, street theatre [and
community media] etc.
...
· Change rules of representation to ensure that there is
representation from all users, including measures such as the
reservation of seats [and editorial space] for particular excluded groups.'
(both 'Who Speaks for Whom', p52)

The examples of participatory government are very interesting, eg.:
'The contrast between Brazil's health councils and the UK's
soon-to-be-abolished patient and public involvement forums could not be more
marked. As the UK puts the new act into practice, Brazilian experience could
prove very useful.' (p37)

Does anyone know what role community media played in helping to bring about
systems of participatory governance in Brazil?

Best wishes
Cathy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shawn Sobers" <shawn.sobers at uwe.ac.uk>
To: <cma-l at commedia.org.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:25 AM
Subject: [cma-l] New DEMOS report - Democratising Engagement


> Note:
>
> No mention of community media directly from what I can see, which is
> ironic considering the whole report is about everything community media
> delivers and stands for.
>
> Again a case of us needing to shout louder to say we exist.
>
> Regards,
>
> Shawn Sobers
>
> Democratising Engagement: What the UK can learn from international
> experience
>
> Published today - 29th April.
>
> Citizen engagement has become an essential part of modern government.
> Gone are the days when the best that citizens could expect was to be
> told what was good for them.
>
> Governments around the world are starting to realise that engaging their
> citizens more in shaping the decisions that affect their everyday lives
> improves both legitimacy and the quality of public services. In the UK,
> addressing the democratic deficit is high on the political agenda. But
> the current model of consultation does not bring in the diversity of
> voices and perspectives that would make citizen engagement genuinely
> democratic.
>
> This pamphlet draws on the Institute for Development Studies research
> project Spaces for Change, examining international attempts to
> democratise citizen engagement. The case studies show that genuine,
> inclusive engagement requires investment to create an enabling
> environment and to support society's least vocal and least powerful
> people to find and use their voices. As other countries lead the effort
> to involve the public in meaningful conversations about policy, the
> pamphlet argues that the UK has much to learn from their experience.
>
> Download from:
>
> http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/democratisingengagement
>
> Shawn Sobers
> Faculty of Creative Arts
> University of the West of England
> Bower Ashton Campus
> Bristol
> BS3 2JT
>
> Roles:
> Senior Lecturer in Photography & Media
> Faculty Outreach Co-ordinator / Widening Participation
>
> shawn.sobers at uwe.ac.uk
> http://www.uwe.ac.uk
> _______________________________________________
>