Mobilizing Citizens as an Approach to Local Economic Development
One indirect but indispensable approach to improving a local economy involves the mobilizing of local citizens of the area. There are those who claim that the development of leaders is central to economic development and certainly that is important, but there are those also who note that "leaders" are of no use without a solid core of "followers".Mobilizing citizens is by no means an easy task. Sometimes it is totally uncalled for as some complaints or involvements with government authorities are best done individually or by a single company, (though they vary widely as to the warmness of their reception. Some activities are individually carried out (e.g. voting) but encouraged and informed by a group. A third type of activity is best carried out by a group from start to finish (e.g. class action suits, group protests and lobbying. each type of group activity usually involves some sort of "group mobilization"
Machiavelli was an early Italian government advisor who wrote a fairly well researched document for the king on how to "do government" successfully. Some take exception to what he laid out, but he had one very insightful observation. He noted that in mounting support for one's cause one could appeal to the princes or the people for support but not both. Another way of stating that is that sometimes people are mobilized as citizens in order to work co-operatively with the government to find a solution (appeal to the princes and mobilize people to support the princes),and other times the people are mobilized for conflict (the people are mobilized to confront the princes).. Both Sun Tsu and Clausawitz in their works on war note that war is the extreme end of political process (when all else fails). In a community located in the Westman region, the long-established political process is that of persuasion, either in formal debate or in informal discussion, with several forums devoted to both processes. The more "urban" the center (and therefore the more people involved in the process) the more formal the process of persuasion tends to be. In the rural areas, decisions are generally made informally in coffee shops and in private conversations. Later, once these decisions have reached a consensus and the key people have been brought in on the decision, it is often formalized in a public meeting. Often, where a vote is scheduled and no consensus has been reached, the vote is postponed.
In more Urban areas, the process is more formal right from the first, following one or another established sets of "rules of order", reverting to open discussion only by deliberate decision of the group - almost the reverse of the rural process. Brandon is an interesting mix, in that is where rural and urban meet. It could be compared to where a huge river runs into the ocean and freshwater pushes back the salt water several miles and then there is an area of mixed water, and then saltwater. Brandon is where the river of urban life flows into the rural ocean of rural life, and often it is confusing which set of persuasion procedures is more appropriate. One local company even has an expression: "which side of the desk are you on - the company's (urban) or the farmer's (rural?"). Some people who are experienced in discussing issues in Brandon have learned to ask themselves about each person in the discussion, "is this person rural or urban?", because a different set of assumptions and preferred procedures lie behind each type of citizen.
Another factor in citizen mobilization in the Westman region is the matter of ethnic background of the town or sub-region being considered, because there are whole sets of unwritten mores and behavioral norms for each group. The Scottish based groups which have dominated the settlement of the southern half of the region, for example are often quite circumspect in their speech, emotional expressiveness and behavior, and tend to "abide the magistrate" (await for the formal authorities to address the situation). The theories of citizen participation and mobilization listed below pick upon several other aspects of this issue.
Citizenship and Ec. Dev.
Supplementary Material
Michael G. Bath -author profile
Michael G.Bath -author- Ec. Dev. Course outline
Elaine B. Sharp- author-Ec.Dev course outline
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