What is good governance? | Ben Warner | TEDxJacksonvilleSalon
Summary
TLDRThe speaker discusses the breakdown of the social contract between citizens and government, emphasizing the importance of effective citizenship and good governance. They highlight low voter turnout as a sign of citizens not fulfilling their part and argue that governance should focus on outcomes rather than political personalities. The speaker calls for citizens to engage and demand accountability from their local governments, advocating for a shift from partisan politics to performance-focused governance.
Takeaways
- 🤔 The concept of government as a social contract is rooted in Greco-Roman democracy and biblical covenants, shaped by the Enlightenment.
- 🔄 There's a perceived breakdown in the social contract between the people and the government, with both parties not fulfilling their responsibilities.
- 🗳️ Effective citizenship involves more than just voting, but current voting trends show a lack of participation at various levels of government.
- 📊 Low voter turnout in national and local elections, as well as primaries, indicates a failure to meet civic duties within the social contract.
- 🌐 The speaker emphasizes the importance of private citizens in shaping democracy, quoting Alexander Walcott and Justice Lewis Brandeis.
- 📚 Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 'The Social Contract' is referenced to highlight the importance of individual concern for the state of the nation.
- 🤝 The speaker calls for increased citizen engagement and a reevaluation of the systems that govern us, suggesting they are designed for the current outcomes.
- 🏛️ Good governance is differentiated from business and nonprofit models, emphasizing the unique role of government in stewardship of public goods and revenues.
- 🚧 Governance is about delivering public services effectively, not about partisan politics, which often distracts from the core issues.
- 🔧 The speaker argues that governance should focus on outcomes and performance, not on personalities or political posturing.
- 🌟 A call to action for citizens to demand accountability from themselves and their local governments, moving towards performance-focused governance.
Q & A
What is the core concept of the speech?
-The core concept of the speech is the breakdown of the social contract between the people and the government, and the need for both parties to fulfill their responsibilities to improve governance and effective citizenship.
What is the social contract according to the speaker?
-The social contract, as described by the speaker, is a mutually reinforcing agreement between the people and the government, rooted in the ideas of democracy from Greco-Roman traditions and biblical covenants, shaped by the Enlightenment.
What issues are suggested to stem from the breakdown of the social contract?
-The speaker suggests that many of the issues seen in headlines across the country stem from a breakdown in the social contract, where either the people or the government are not living up to their responsibilities.
What role does the speaker emphasize for private citizens in the social contract?
-The speaker emphasizes the role of private citizens to vote, engage, and hold public officials accountable, as part of their responsibilities in the social contract.
Why is voting considered a basic role of citizens in the social contract?
-Voting is considered a basic role of citizens because it is a direct way for citizens to participate in the democratic process and influence the selection of public officials who will govern on their behalf.
What historical figure is quoted to emphasize the importance of private citizens' role in democracy?
-Alexander Walcott is quoted to emphasize that democracy is broken because people are not making it work, highlighting the importance of private citizens' role in democracy.
What is the difference between politics and governance according to the speaker?
-According to the speaker, politics is about individuals and often involves partisan attacks, while governance is about public officials taking stewardship of the public good, focusing on outcomes, and delivering what the people need.
Why is governance described as being more difficult than ruling?
-Governance is described as more difficult than ruling because it involves managing complex systems, ensuring public good, and delivering services to meet the needs of the people, which is not as straightforward as running a business or a nonprofit.
What is the speaker's view on the role of government in comparison to a business or a nonprofit?
-The speaker views government as a unique entity that is neither a business nor a nonprofit. While businesses have clear feedback loops like profit, and nonprofits focus on mission outcomes and funders, government's role is to provide services and ensure public good without the influence of partisan politics.
What is the speaker's call to action for citizens?
-The speaker's call to action is for citizens to engage more actively in their roles within the social contract, demand accountability from local governments, and shift the focus from politics to performance-focused governance without partisan attacks.
How does the speaker illustrate the impact of a lack of citizen engagement?
-The speaker illustrates the impact of a lack of citizen engagement through the story of an elderly woman in an economically distressed neighborhood who feels unsafe and desires functional street lights, showing how low expectations can reflect a broken social contract.
Outlines
🤔 The Breakdown of Social Contract and the Role of Citizenship
The speaker begins by expressing curiosity about the concept of government as a social contract, influenced by ancient democratic ideals and the enlightenment. They suggest that current issues stem from a failure to uphold this contract, with both citizens and government at fault. The speaker emphasizes the importance of effective citizenship, citing low voter turnout as evidence of a lack of civic engagement. They argue that roles extend beyond voting and reference Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 'The Social Contract,' highlighting the danger of citizens disengaging from the state. The speaker also addresses the misconception of government as a business, stressing that governance is about public service and outcomes rather than profit or personal gain.
🔍 Demanding Accountability in Governance Beyond Partisanship
In the second paragraph, the speaker shifts focus to the importance of good governance, distinguishing it from politics, which they argue often revolves around personality cults rather than policy outcomes. They advocate for a return to performance-focused governance, free from partisan attacks. The speaker uses examples of essential public services that are non-partisan by nature, such as public safety, education, and infrastructure, to illustrate that the majority of government work is about execution rather than political spectacle. They recount a personal anecdote involving a community's struggle with local issues, emphasizing the need for citizens to demand better and hold their local governments accountable. The speech concludes with a call to action for citizens to engage and demand accountability from their governments, reinforcing the idea that democracy is only as strong as the people's participation in it.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Social Contract
💡Greco Roman Democracy
💡Enlightenment
💡Effective Citizenship
💡Good Governance
💡Voting
💡Citizen Engagement
💡Partisan Attacks
💡Public Officials
💡Performance-Focused Governance
💡Accountability
Highlights
The conceptualization of government as a social contract influenced by Greco-Roman democracy and biblical covenants shaped by the Enlightenment.
The mutual reinforcement of roles between the people and the government in the social contract.
The suggestion that current issues stem from a breakdown in the social contract due to unfulfilled responsibilities.
The importance of effective citizenship and good governance as integral to the social contract.
Alexander Walcott's view on the responsibility of citizens in making democracy work.
Justice Lewis Brandeis' emphasis on the role of the private citizen in public affairs.
The low voter turnout rates in national and local elections as a sign of unfulfilled civic duties.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's perspective on the consequences of citizens' indifference to the state.
The need for increased citizen engagement to improve the social contract.
Dr. Henry Thomas' view on the systems being designed for the results we are getting.
The distinction between government and business, emphasizing the unique nature of governance.
The difficulty of good governance and the challenges it presents compared to business operations.
The confusion between politics and governance, with a call for focus on outcomes rather than personalities.
The non-partisan nature of essential government services and the need for performance-focused governance.
The anecdote of an elderly woman's desire for functional street lights as a basic community need.
The call for citizens to engage and demand accountability from themselves and their local government.
The final message emphasizing the importance of active citizen participation in maintaining a functional democracy.
Transcripts
well thank you I'm intrigued by the
conceptualization of government as a
social contract based on the Greco Roman
ideas of democracy and biblical
covenants shaped by the
enlightenment in this social contract we
the people and we the government have
mutually reinforcing roles and I'd like
to suggest that many of the issues we're
seeing in headlines AC across the
country today stem at its core to a
breakdown in that social contract with
one or both of us not living up to our
responsibilities so with your Indulgence
tonight I'd like to briefly address two
issues one is effective citizenship and
the second is good
governance Alexander Walcott once said
that he says I'm sick and tired of
hearing people say democracy is broken
of course democracy is broken we are
supposed to make it work
Justice Lewis brandise added on top of
that that the most important public
official is the private citizen so what
is our role as private citizens in this
social contract well I think we can all
understand that the very basic role that
we need to play is that of
voting nationally when we look at voting
trends in the 2012 Presidential election
less than
60% of the voting eligible population
cast a ballot for president in the 24 14
elections on the national level
37% of the voting eligible population
cast a ballot locally we're not doing
better in our primaries that we just had
this
year 27% of our population 18 and over
cast a ballot in the primaries for mayor
and if those Trends continue we are
about to select a mayor based on 133% of
our voting eligible
population may I suggest
we are
not as a nation or as a community living
up to our end of that social
contract and our roles go far beyond
just voting but I'm troubled when I
think of what jean jaac rouso wrote in
his book the social contract over 250
years
ago he said as soon as any man says to
himself speaking of public officials of
the state it doesn't matter to me
the state is given up for
lost so how can we possibly increase
citizen engagement how can we improve
our part of that social
contract Dr Henry Thomas liked to tell
me that uh the systems we have are
perfectly designed for the results that
we're getting so let's look for a little
bit at the systems all
right we like to look at
government through a particular
interesting lens we look at it through a
political lens um when we think about
what we need from government for it to
fill its side of the social contract
what we're looking for is good
governance but we tend to to look for
people who and vote them into office who
say things like well I'm going to run
government like a
business well government's not a
business a business has a very clear
feedback loop they can tell if a
business is doing well it's called
profit you can look at your segmented
targeted population your customer base
and say all right are my goods and
services that I'm providing are they
meeting with satisfaction are people
purchasing them are my sales and and
expenditures meeting my budget and you
can tell looking at the bottom line
whether or not you're being effective in
providing those Business Services
government is not like that government
is not like a
nonprofit nonprofits are focused on
meeting Mission outcomes and satisfying
their funders and that's not what
government is all about government is a
unique entity
and we don't think of it as such and
governing is hard good governance is
difficult ger like to say that ruling is
easy governing is difficult and and we
find ourselves in a time where we're
finding difficulties in governance
greater than
ever you see we we see this all clouded
with this political lens because
politics is not about governance
politics are about
individuals and in fact politics tend to
create party reinforced personality
Cults governance is more than that
governance is about public officials
taking stewardship of the public good
and of public tax revenues and
delivering to the people what they
need in short governance is about
outcomes not about people and we get
this confused because we hear people
talking about governance issues but they
tend to do so by with these partisan
attacks turns out that Public Safety is
not a partisan issue public education is
not a partisan issue roads and
infrastructure uh Debt Service garbage
pickup issuing permits and licenses uh
being able to to take care of building
upkeep and Fleet Maintenance those
aren't partisan issues a pothole doesn't
care what party affiliation you
have 90% of government is just getting
the work done and doing it well but we
don't talk about that governance we as a
people have been compliant in this shift
from policy to
personality from outcomes to
conversations about photo ops and uh and
ribbon
cuttings it needs to be more than that
we need to be involved in more than that
it's not going to change until we demand
change toward performance focused
governance without the partisan
attacks now we can do this we know we
can do this um we've seen how this plays
out but we also see how it plays out
when we don't do it well a few years ago
I had an opportunity to meet with a
group of citizens in an economically
distressed
neighborhood they were challenged with
developing an action plan where where
they could leverage local resources and
government action to create traction for
in their
community and one elderly woman spoke up
and said you know I don't feel safe in
my community but I think I would feel
safer if all the street lights worked
she was quickly shushed by the person
sitting next to her and said you can't
ask for too much put down we would like
half our street lights to
work is it any
wonder that in this
neighborhood and in neighborhoods of
across this country it feels like the
social contract is
broken now we have to do better and we
can do
better my call tonight is for us as
Citizens to engage and demand
accountability first of ourselves we
need to live up to our roles in that
social contract and second demand
accountability of our local government
our local government needs to provide
the governance that we demand and not
the politics
that
divide because democracy of the People
by the people and for the
people will only be broken if we the
people fail to make it work thank you
for being here tonight
[Applause]
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