1: Office of Civic Engagement
A Champion for Civic Engagement: a White House Office of Civic Engagement, and More Other Information:
The Federal government has no government-wide commitment to the goal of greater civic participation. Nor does any government-wide
agency have the responsibility for serving as a steward and champion of the quality and reach of our democracy—either at the
voting booth or in our community life. Existing activities are largely confined to a small range of Federal agencies, and
best practices are not readily shared across agencies and programs. Although many statutes explicitly call for civic engagement,
some administrative legislation, such as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, actually make civic engagement more difficult.
Within certain agencies, there is bureaucratic and political resistance to greater involvement because it is perceived as
impeding the discretionary actions of agency leaders. There is nothing new about the idea of Federal government action to
support civic engagement.4 For over 40 years, individual Federal agencies have been engaged in efforts to catalyze and, in
some cases, mandate engagement, both in policymaking and implementation, at the national, state, and local levels. Among the
agencies that have recently engaged in some of the most innovative work are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Maternal and Child Health Services unit of the Department of
Human Services, and the Department of Transportation. Unfortunately, support for these efforts has been fitful, partly because
the responsibility has fallen to individual administrators who, in some cases, have questioned either the readiness and interest
of citizens and other key civic partners, or the value of civic engagement itself. Some agencies, moreover, have not been
given the resources for more than a symbolic effort. Now is the time to broaden and deepen this commitment. Federal agencies
and officials should reach out to citizens and include them in policy making, strategy development, and service delivery.
This is not only important to the health of our democracy; it strengthens our country’s capacity to solve important public
problems. Greater engagement and inclusion will improve decisions, reduce the risk of political gridlock on difficult questions,
and increase the legitimacy of government action.
Objective(s):
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