Not by Technology Alone: The “Analog” Aspects of Online Public Engagement in Policymaking

Between Twitter revolutions and Facebook elections, there is a growing belief that information and communication technologies are changing the way democracy is practiced. The discourse around e-government and online deliberation is frequently focused on technical solutions and based in the belief that if you build it correctly they will come. This paper departs from the literature on digital divide to examine barriers to online civic participation in policy deliberation. While most scholarship focuses on identifying and describing those barriers, this study offers an in-depth analysis of what it takes to address them using a particular case study. Based in the tradition of action research, this paper focuses on analysis of practices that evolved in Regulation Room - a research project of CeRI (Cornell eRulemaking Initiative) that works with federal government agencies in helping them engage public in complex policymaking processes. It draws a multidimensional picture of motivation, skill, and general political participation divides; or the “analog” aspects of the digital divide in online civic participation and policy deliberation

The Value of Words: Narrative as Evidence in Policymaking

Policymakers today rely primarily on statistical, financial, and other forms of technical data as their basis for decision-making. Yet, there is a potentially underestimated value in substantive reflections of the members of the public who will be affected by a particular piece of regulation. We discuss the value of narratives as input in the policy making process, based on our experience with Regulation Room–a product of an interdisciplinary initiative using innovative web technologies in real-time online experimentation. We describe professional policymakers and professional commenters as a community of practice that has limited shared repertoire with the lay members of the public trying to engage with the policymaking process, which constitutes a significant barrier to participation. Based on our work with Regulation Room, we offer an initial typology of narratives–complexity, contributory context, unintended consequences, and reframing–as a first step towards overcoming conceptual barriers to effective civic engagement in policymaking

The Magic Sauce: Practices of Facilitation in Online Policy Deliberation

Online engagement in policy deliberation is one of the more complex aspects of open government. Previous research on human facilitation of policy deliberation has focused primarily on the citizens who need facilitation. In this paper we unpack the facilitation practices from the perspective of the moderator. We present an interview study of facilitators in RegulationRoom – an online policy deliberation platform. Our findings reveal that facilitators focus primarily on two broad activities: managing the stream of comments and interacting with comments and commenters – both aimed at obtaining high quality public input into the particular policymaking process. Managing the immediate goals of online policy deliberations, however, might overshadow long-term goals pf public deliberation, i.e. helping individuals develop participatory literacy beyond a single policy engagement. Our contribution is twofold: we unpack the practice of human facilitation in online policy deliberation, and suggest both design and process implications for sustainable growth of civic engagement environments beyond the individual case we analyze

Designing an Online Civic Engagement Platform: Balancing More vs. Better Participation in Complex Public Policymaking

A new form of online citizen participation in government decisionmaking has arisen in the United States (U.S.) under the Obama Administration. “Civic Participation 2.0” attempts to use Web 2.0 information and communication technologies to enable wider civic participation in government policymaking, based on three pillars of open government: transparency, participation, and collaboration. Thus far, the Administration has modeled Civic Participation 2.0 almost exclusively on a universalist/populist Web 2.0 philosophy of participation. In this model, content is created by users, who are enabled to shape the discussion and assess the value of contributions with little information or guidance from government decisionmakers. The authors suggest that this model often produces “participation” unsatisfactory to both government and citizens. The authors propose instead a model of Civic Participation 2.0 rooted in the theory and practice of democratic deliberation. In this model, the goal of civic participation is to reveal the conclusions people reach when they are informed about the issues and have the opportunity and motivation seriously to discuss them. Accordingly, the task of civic participation design is to provide the factual and policy information and the kinds of participation mechanisms that support and encourage this sort of participatory output. Based on the authors’ experience with Regulation Room, an experimental online platform for broadening effective civic participation in rulemaking (the process federal agencies use to make new regulations), the authors offer specific suggestions for how designers can strike the balance between ease of engagement and quality of engagement – and so bring new voices into public policymaking processes through participatory outputs that government decisionmakers will value

Knowledge in the People: Rethinking Value in Public Rulemaking Participation

A companion piece to Rulemaking vs. Democracy: Judging and Nudging Public Participation that Counts, this Essay continues to examine the nature and value of broader public participation in rulemaking. Here, we argue that rulemaking is a “community of practice,” with distinctive forms of argumentation and methods of reasoning that both reflect and embody craft knowledge. Rulemaking newcomers are outside this community of practice: Even when they are reasonably informed about the legal and policy aspects of the agency’s proposal, their participation differs in kind and form from that of sophisticated commenters. From observing the actual behavior of rulemaking newcomers in the Regulation Room project, we suggest that new public participation is often, if not predominantly, experiential in nature and narrative in form. We argue that it is unrealistic to expect that rulemaking newcomers can be significantly inculcated into the norms and methods of the existing rulemaking community of practice. Yet, the potential policymaking value of the on-the-ground, situated knowledge they can bring to the discussion justifies efforts to expand our understanding of the kinds of comments that should “count” in the process. We take some first steps in that direction in this Essay

Regulation Room: Getting More, Better Civic Participation in Complex Government Policymaking

Purpose – Rulemaking (the process agencies use to make new health, safety, social and economic regulations) is one of the US Government’s most important policymaking methods and has long been a target for e-government efforts. Although broad transparency and participation rights are part of its legal structure, significant barriers prevent effective engagement by many citizens. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – RegulationRoom.org is an online experimental e-participation platform, designed and operated by Cornell e-rulemaking Initiative (CeRI), the cross-disciplinary CeRI. Using the Regulation Roomas a case study, this paper addresseswhat capacities are required for effective civic engagement and how they can be nurtured and supported by an online participation system. Findings – The research suggests that effectively designing and deploying technology, although essential, is only one dimension of realizing broader, better online civic engagement. Effective e-participation systems must be prepared to address procedural, social, and psychological barriers that impede citizens’ meaningful participation in complex policymaking processes.The research also suggests the need for re-conceptualizing the value of broad civic participation to the policymaking processes and for recognizing that novice commenters engage with policy issues differently than experienced insiders. Practical implications – The paper includes a series of strategic recommendations for policymaking seeking public input. While it indicates that a broader range of citizens can indeed be meaningfully engaged, it also cautions that getting better participation from more people requires the investment of resources. More fundamental, both government decision makers and participation designers must be open to recognizing non-traditional forms of knowledge and styles of communication – and willing to devise participation mechanisms and protocols accordingly. Originality/value – This paper describes lessons from a unique design-based research project with both practical and conceptual implications for more, better civic participation in complex government policymaking

Designing an Online Civic Engagement Platform: Balancing More vs. Better Participation in Complex Public Policymaking

A new form of online citizen participation in government decisionmaking has arisen in the United States (U.S.) under the Obama Administration. “Civic Participation 2.0” attempts to use Web 2.0 information and communication technologies to enable wider civic participation in government policymaking, based on three pillars of open government: transparency, participation, and collaboration. Thus far, the Administration has modeled Civic Participation 2.0 almost exclusively on a universalist/populist Web 2.0 philosophy of participation. In this model, content is created by users, who are enabled to shape the discussion and assess the value of contributions with little information or guidance from government decisionmakers. The authors suggest that this model often produces “participation” unsatisfactory to both government and citizens. The authors propose instead a model of Civic Participation 2.0 rooted in the theory and practice of democratic deliberation. In this model, the goal of civic participation is to reveal the conclusions people reach when they are informed about the issues and have the opportunity and motivation seriously to discuss them. Accordingly, the task of civic participation design is to provide the factual and policy information and the kinds of participation mechanisms that support and encourage this sort of participatory output. Based on the authors’ experience with Regulation Room, an experimental online platform for broadening effective civic participation in rulemaking (the process federal agencies use to make new regulations), the authors offer specific suggestions for how designers can strike the balance between ease of engagement and quality of engagement – and so bring new voices into public policymaking processes through participatory outputs that government decisionmakers will value

Regulation Room: Getting More, Better Civic Participation in Complex Government Policymaking

Purpose – Rulemaking (the process agencies use to make new health, safety, social and economic regulations) is one of the US Government’s most important policymaking methods and has long been a target for e-government efforts. Although broad transparency and participation rights are part of its legal structure, significant barriers prevent effective engagement by many citizens. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – RegulationRoom.org is an online experimental e-participation platform, designed and operated by Cornell e-rulemaking Initiative (CeRI), the cross-disciplinary CeRI. Using the Regulation Roomas a case study, this paper addresseswhat capacities are required for effective civic engagement and how they can be nurtured and supported by an online participation system. Findings – The research suggests that effectively designing and deploying technology, although essential, is only one dimension of realizing broader, better online civic engagement. Effective e-participation systems must be prepared to address procedural, social, and psychological barriers that impede citizens’ meaningful participation in complex policymaking processes.The research also suggests the need for re-conceptualizing the value of broad civic participation to the policymaking processes and for recognizing that novice commenters engage with policy issues differently than experienced insiders. Practical implications – The paper includes a series of strategic recommendations for policymaking seeking public input. While it indicates that a broader range of citizens can indeed be meaningfully engaged, it also cautions that getting better participation from more people requires the investment of resources. More fundamental, both government decision makers and participation designers must be open to recognizing non-traditional forms of knowledge and styles of communication – and willing to devise participation mechanisms and protocols accordingly. Originality/value – This paper describes lessons from a unique design-based research project with both practical and conceptual implications for more, better civic participation in complex government policymaking

Testing the Asteroseismic Mass Scale Using Metal-Poor Stars Characterized with APOGEE and Kepler

Fundamental stellar properties, such as mass, radius, and age, can be inferred using asteroseismology. Cool stars with convective envelopes have turbulent motions that can stochastically drive and damp pulsations. The properties of the oscillation frequency power spectrum can be tied to mass and radius through solar-scaled asteroseismic relations. Stellar properties derived using these scaling relations need verification over a range of metallicities. Because the age and mass of halo stars are well-constrained by astrophysical priors, they provide an independent, empirical check on asteroseismic mass estimates in the low-metallicity regime. We identify nine metal-poor red giants (including six stars that are kinematically associated with the halo) from a sample observed by both the Kepler space telescope and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III APOGEE spectroscopic survey. We compare masses inferred using asteroseismology to those expected for halo and thick-disk stars. Although our sample is small, standard scaling relations, combined with asteroseismic parameters from the APOKASC Catalog, produce masses that are systematically higher (=0.17+/-0.05 Msun) than astrophysical expectations. The magnitude of the mass discrepancy is reduced by known theoretical corrections to the measured large frequency separation scaling relationship. Using alternative methods for measuring asteroseismic parameters induces systematic shifts at the 0.04 Msun level. We also compare published asteroseismic analyses with scaling relationship masses to examine the impact of using the frequency of maximum power as a constraint. Upcoming APOKASC observations will provide a larger sample of ~100 metal-poor stars, important for detailed asteroseismic characterization of Galactic stellar populations.Comment: 4 figures; 1 table. Accepted to ApJ

The APOKASC Catalog: An Asteroseismic and Spectroscopic Joint Survey of Targets in the Kepler Fields

We present the first APOKASC catalog of spectroscopic and asteroseismic properties of 1916 red giants observed in the Kepler fields. The spectroscopic parameters provided from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment project are complemented with asteroseismic surface gravities, masses, radii, and mean densities determined by members of the Kepler Asteroseismology Science Consortium. We assess both random and systematic sources of error and include a discussion of sample selection for giants in the Kepler fields. Total uncertainties in the main catalog properties are of order 80 K in Teff , 0.06 dex in [M/H], 0.014 dex in log g, and 12% and 5% in mass and radius, respectively; these reflect a combination of systematic and random errors. Asteroseismic surface gravities are substantially more precise and accurate than spectroscopic ones, and we find good agreement between their mean values and the calibrated spectroscopic surface gravities. There are, however, systematic underlying trends with Teff and log g. Our effective temperature scale is between 0-200 K cooler than that expected from the Infrared Flux Method, depending on the adopted extinction map, which provides evidence for a lower value on average than that inferred for the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC). We find a reasonable correspondence between the photometric KIC and spectroscopic APOKASC metallicity scales, with increased dispersion in KIC metallicities as the absolute metal abundance decreases, and offsets in Teff and log g consistent with those derived in the literature. We present mean fitting relations between APOKASC and KIC observables and discuss future prospects, strengths, and limitations of the catalog data.Comment: 49 pages. ApJSupp, in press. Full machine-readable ascii files available under ancillary data. Categories: Kepler targets, asteroseismology, large spectroscopic survey