Do we know how to engage citizens in local government?

Evidence Based Management is the act of translating principals derived from science into the practices of organizing and managing. The call for evidence to fill the gaps in practice has been a hallmark of public administration... [ view full abstract ]

Evidence Based Management is the act of translating principals derived from science into the practices of organizing and managing. The call for evidence to fill the gaps in practice has been a hallmark of public administration scholarship for some time. Yet, the research-practice gaps are still quite evident. To help fill this void, the researcher developed a protocol to systematically review literature on engaging citizens, focused solely on manuscripts that are able to demonstrate that because of some factors or set of factors at the individual or institutional level, within local government, the number of people engaged is increased. Several key means of increasing engagement are distilled. Following the review, a survey of local government officials was used to examine the extent to which these practices are known and applied in local government. The purpose of this research is two fold. First, to add to the evidence base on which local governments can draw to improve the practices of citizen engagement. Two, to assess the extent of the evidence –practice gap in the area of citizen engagement in local government.