The Maholian Way - Part Four: Managing local and national life

For Maholians, participation in the politics and governance of their local areas and their country is but an extension of their participation in community life, which in turn is an extension of decision-making and action in their ‘private’ life. In Maholia these kinds of boundaries and distinctions are more fuzzy and less meaningful. Maholians tend to use shared or community facilities, spaces, services and organisations a great deal. Naturally, therefore, they have strong ideas about what public resources there should be, what they should look like, and how they should be managed. For this reason, and because Maholia has a culture of active participation in community life, they tend to get involved in decision-making about these resources, and in the work to be done to bring them into existence and maintain them. And they have the same attitude to other aspects of public life, such as the regulation of traffic or building design, the treatment of the sick or of criminal offenders, and the distribution of wealth in society. Sometimes they get involved in these matters as individuals, and sometimes as members of organisations, such as residents’ associations, environmental organisations or Social Vision groups.

Forms of community and public participation

Maholians’ propensity to be involved in community and public life might see them participate in a deliberative forum, for example. This is a device used in many countries for consulting citizens or community members about relevant public issues, and it normally operates like this. People assemble in a public venue to consider a specific issue, for example, whether to allow a fun park to be built on a piece of public land. Speakers for and against present their case, and there are also relevant experts on hand to give their views. The audience then breaks into small groups to discuss the issue, and to come up with points they want to make and questions they need answers to. Some questions may relate to the feasibility of particular amendments or compromise proposals. The assembled company then comes together to put these points and to question the speakers and experts, and then breaks up into small groups again to discuss what they have just heard. They then reconvene as a whole group to work out a proposal that is acceptable not just to a bare majority, but to the great majority of those present. This is not always possible, but usually is. In Maholia the decisions of these forums are generally not binding on municipal or national governments or other public bodies, because those who attend forums do not formally represent anyone, but public authorities don’t disregard their resolutions too often, because to do so would be seen as high-handed and unresponsive to public opinion.

Then there are the one-stop-shop-fronts. These are local shop-front premises where citizens can have any necessary dealings with public officials as well as discussing issues of concern that relate in some way to government policies or practices, whether national or local. This may be a policy or ruling that affects them personally, or a broader policy matter about which they feel strongly. The staff there can refer people to particular departments or officials if necessary. These premises also have small meeting rooms for discussions that might include parliamentarians, local councillors, departmental officers, members of community groups or businesses, and ordinary citizens. Records are kept of all matters that citizens come to the shop-fronts to talk about, in order to monitor issues of public concern that may require policy change. Deliberative forums and one-stop-shop-fronts are but two examples of measures taken to facilitate citizen involvement in public decision-making.

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