Whose Duty is It Anyway?  Should Public Administration Take on the Role of Informing an Uninformed Public?

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Renee Cardarelle
April 7, 2025

In my last article, I talked about the public’s general lack of understanding regarding the governing process. This tendency of the public to simplify our government can cause issues in the local decision making process, and public administrators often find themselves in the position of having to educate the public on how government works in order to get the job done. Some of the ways they are doing this are listed below. At the same time, public administrators also struggle with how to do this and wonder if spoon feeding the public is the most effective use of their time. They question if it is their duty to educate an uniformed public or should someone else have this responsibility?

A simple answer would be that it is public education’s role to educate the public about how government works. Especially since the educational system was developed, in part, to help people be more informed, as Thomas Jefferson famously said, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” And of course, to some degree, our public education system does do this education. Certainly, many of us remember our eighth grade civics class, even if we don’t really remember what was said. Still, given that so few people seem to understand our governing processes, not to mention the problems which arise when the public does not understand what it takes to run a complex society, we should at least consider that it may not be only public education’s job to help people understand government.

Afterall classroom learning only goes so far. If the public is really going to understand the complexity of our systems, experiential learning is probably a far better strategy. It provides concrete examples and an inside glimpse of how difficult it can be to come up with solutions for public problems, especially when the problem is complex, what some call a ‘wicked social problem’. Experiential learning also helps people move away from personally focused solutions towards ones which consider the community as a whole.

Helping people experience governance is something local public administrators are in the perfect position to facilitate, and while it may feel as though this is yet another thing to add to already full plates, it actually isn’t a new responsibility. Public administrators already spend a lot of time responding to public reactions fueled by a lack of knowledge. By focusing on educating the public, administrators can shift away from reacting to the public and adopt a more positive and proactive public interaction which helps the public think through the complexities of public decision making.

Opportunities for public administrators to shift to a more proactive interaction with the public already exist. One of the more well-known methods is participatory budgeting, which is being used in communities of all sizes. Some communities are even using online tools which allow the public to play with the budget and develop their own, teaching them how difficult it is to choose between priorities.

Another common method of facilitating public participation is the advisory committee, which allows community members the opportunity to learn about governance, especially when it is incorporated into the committee’s responsibilities. Some public administrators have taken the advisory committee a step forward and created unique committees focused on areas the public expresses interest in. For instance, one rural Minnesota community has a “spirit of community” committee which focuses on growing a more vibrant community. The purpose of the committee isn’t to educate the public about governing, people likely wouldn’t join a committee which is focused on this, but it does provide an opportunity for people to really experience the public decision making process and can be a place of education.

There are also more direct examples of educating the public. In another Minnesota community the city administrator is partnering with the local school district to do an annual city council meeting at the high school. This is a full blown, official city council meeting done in front of the student body. The students get to view the process the city council uses for its decision making and they are invited to visit with the council about their own ideas. In addition, the city administrator visits classrooms to explain the process to the students as preparation for this meeting. The city administrator said the program has not only helped students understand their community, it has also helped them engage in the process of making their community better. For instance, when an issue came up with a local skateboard park and the city was considering closing it, they took the issue to the youth in the high school and let them find a solution, which they did. “The kids took care of that (concern) after we had that discussion at the school. We haven’t really had to deal with that issue since.”

In each of these different scenarios local public administrators have the opportunity to educate the public about the decision making process, and there is evidence this does make their job easier down the road. However, it requires the public administrator to not only value the idea of an educated public but also to think about what they want the public to understand about the decision making process, which is not something most public administrators are encouraged to do. By shifting the focus away from responding to public reaction and focusing instead on how to proactively educate the public, public administrators, especially at the local level, have an opportunity to not only to make their jobs easier, but also have a positive impact on their community!

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Author: Renée Cardarelle has a PhD in Management and Public Service from Hamline University with a focus on public participation in the governing process. In addition to her work in academia, Renée has also worked in the nonprofit sector and in grassroots organizing for more than twenty years.

 

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