Democratic Governance Panel

The purpose of NLC’s work on Democratic Governance is to help local officials respond to governance challenges. Drawing on case studies of successful projects, the Panel has explored ways to educate, involve, and mobilize citizens in a variety of events and initiatives. The Panel’s research and written materials describe how communities have used democratic governance approaches to address key issues such as:

• Planning and development;
• Race, diversity, and equity;
• Crime and public safety;
• Education and school improvement; and
• Public finance.

Activities and Agenda

• Conducting workshops and seminars that assist city and town officials at NLC conferences and as part of NLC’s Leadership Training Institute Program.
• Hold workshops and seminars for local officials at the annual Congressional Cities Conference in Washington, DC and the Congress of Cities and Exposition. 
• Encourage and enable city officials to enhance democratic governance by articulating and delivering a strong, compelling message, using a variety of venues.
• Work with state municipal leagues and other networks to reach out to a broader array of local officials. Work with the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) on the Democracy Helpline and other key services for local leaders.

As a culmination of NLC’s work over the last decade responding to the challenges of governing democratically, NLC’s democratic governance project has published Planning for Stronger Local Democracy: A Field Guide for Local Officials. This tool kit, made possible with support from the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, is designed to assist officials in strengthening local democracy by cultivating transparency and inclusivity with citizens and key allies with shared responsibilities and mutual accountability for addressing and solving problems.  

The national discussion on civility, borne out of the terrible events in Tucson, demonstrates that many believe the current overheated rhetoric is not working as a means to solve the nation’s problems. This action guide assists city leaders in creating a framework democratic governance that encourages governing in a participatory, deliberative, inclusive and collaborative way.

This brief presents local practices that public officials and their staffs are incorporating in their communities to govern in more participatory, deliberative, inclusive and collaborative ways.

This brief illustrates the diversity of citizen volunteer programs and strategies that city officials are implementing to achieve city priorities and to strengthen and expand services.

This report compiles information from a survey conducted in the summer of 2009 to municipal officials, both elected and managerial, to find out more about their views, attitudes, and local practices in public engagement.

This guide presents local officials with the first steps and directions for developing or re-establishing efforts toward integrating immigrants into civic life. It provides guidance for conducting meetings with small groups of local leaders that are representative of the many cultural and ethnic facets of the community. It includes suggested agendas, background materials, planning considerations, and successful formats for civic engagement.

This research brief, based on the results of NLC's State of America's Cities survey, reports on municipal officials views related to participation in democratic decisionmaking, the public, the media and community groups.

This Research Brief, based on the results of NLC's State of America's Cities survey, reports on municipal officials' views about public engagement and their efforts to involve the public in deliberating issues and helping to solve problems.