Democratic governance depends on citizen participation to mitigate corruption, harness public energy, and remain responsive to community needs. Citizen activism can be a productive check on the expansion of special interests as the public determines where its government's priorities should lie. Both in developing and developed countries, innovators continue to explore a range of strategies engaging communities to deliver social services, defuse conflict, improve public sector accountability, and raise public opinion about quality of governance. This panel examined several such innovations to consider new ways to engage citizens in building fair and effective government.
* Professor Archon Fung, Harvard Kennedy School
* Mr. Richard Dobson, Founder of Asiye Etafuleni, South Africa
* Mr. Robert Miller, Director of the Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program, USA
* Dr. Henry Tam, Deputy Director of Community Empowerment Delivery, UK
