Center for the Study of Democracy

The frameworks and models employed in conventional policy analysis serve poorly the purpose of examining the impacts of institutions and public policies upon citizenship and democracy. This failing is all the more serious during the current period of non-incremental institutional and public policy change. Such fundamental changes in the landscape of governance include: the diminishing power of Washington and the devolution of authority over many issues to lower levels of government; the movement of many public issues from public to private spheres; the use of market-like incentives in public policies; the emergence of community-based initiatives in policy; and the creation of new institutional forms including new kinds of property rights and regional forums. The purpose of this round table is to raise critical questions about the possible side effects of the "reforms" being undertaken. What will be the impacts on already underserved constituencies? How will institutional and public policy changes affect the mobilization of and participation of groups? How will the attitudes citizens hold about their obligations to government and their conceptions of role of government in society be altered? And, from a research perspective, how should the models and methodologies political scientists and policy analysts be modified to better capture the effects on institutions and policies upon citizenship and democracy?