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Part II - Civic Power through Governance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2019

K.Sabeel Rahman
Affiliation:
Brooklyn Law School
Hollie Russon Gilman
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
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Summary

In the previous chapters we explored how grassroots organizations could build bottom-up power and new coalitions. The ability of civic groups to exercise political influence turns not only on their strategies for building power, but also on the larger institutional contexts within which these organizations operate. In these next few chapters we shift focus from grassroots to government. What kinds of institutional structures and governance mechanisms are necessary to create a more inclusive and equitable power balance in policymaking? We argue that the ability of grassroots movements to exercise power depends on more than their ability to build durable organizations and new coalitions and identities. It also depends on an institutional policymaking context that provides points of entry and leverage for these movements. We suggest that democratic inclusion requires radical changes to institutional design and policymaking within government bodies. In particular, we suggest that democracy requires bureaucracies that are designed (and acculturated) to engage with grassroots actors.

Type
Chapter
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Civic Power
Rebuilding American Democracy in an Era of Crisis
, pp. 111 - 202
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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