Making Democracy Fun?
Games as Tools for Democratic Participation
My dissertation explores if and
how games can enhance democratic participation. I map how games
have been used as tools for democracy, illustrate the political
lessons of game design theory, and compare participatory processes
using games in Argentina and Canada. I find that participation tends
to be more attractive and effective when games and game design techniques
are used.
Learning Democracy By Doing
Since 2005 I have worked with Daniel
Schugurensky to study what and how people learn by engaging
in participatory democracy, in particular through field research
on participatory budgeting in Rosario, Argentina.
Participatory Budgeting in North America
Since 2003, I have researched the
initial participatory budgeting experiences in North America - in
Toronto, Guelph (ON), Montreal, Vancouver, and Chicago.
Communal Councils in Venezuela
In 2006 I went to Venezuela to evaluate communal councils, an emerging
national experiment in participatory democracy.
Democracy at the World Social Forum
In 2005 I researched the open space organization of the World Social
Forum, and how it facilitated or impeded democratic participation,
networking, and decision-making.
"Winning Back the Government's Love (and Money)," Shelterforce,
Summer 2011.
"Participatory Budgeting: Building Community Agreement around
Tough Budget Decisions," National Civic Review, Vol
100, Issue 2, 2011.
"Government
can't solve budget battles? Let citizens do it," (with
Daniel Altschuler) The Christian Science Monitor, April
5, 2011.
"Chicago’s
$1.3 Million Experiment in Democracy," (With Megan Wade
Antieau) YES! Magazine, April, 2010.
"Learning Democracy through Participatory Budgeting: Who Learns
What and So What?," in Elizabeth Pinnington & Daniel Schugurensky
(eds.), Citizenship Learning and Participatory Democracy Throughout
the World, Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Scholarly Press, 2009.
"Participatory Budgeting in North America: The Case of Guelph,
Canada," (with Elizabeth Pinnington & Daniel Schugurensky)
Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management,
2/3(21), 2009.
"Money
Talks: How Participatory Budgeting Can Transform Politics,"
Grassroots Economic Organizing, 2(1), Summer 2008.
"Four
Lessons for Progressives from Venezuela's Recent Referendum",
VenezuelaAnalysis.com, December 6, 2007.
"Could Participatory Budgeting Work in the United States?,"
(with Gianpaolo Baiocchi) The Good Society, 16(1),
2007.
"La Dimensión
Educativa de la Democracia Local: El Caso del Presupuesto Participativo,"
(with Daniel Schugurensky) Revista Temas y Debates,
13, 2007.
"Participatory Budgeting: A New Tool for Democratic Decision
Making," (with Jez Hall) Transformation
Journal, no. 5, Spring 2007. (article on participatory
budgeting in the UK) [PDF
version]
"Una Nación de Democracia Participativa?
Los Consejos Comunales y el Sistema Nacional de Planificación en
Venezuela", (with Juan Carlos Rodríguez) Revista
SIC, 693, April 2007. [PDF
version]
"Communal
Councils in Venezuela: Can 200 families revolutionize democracy?",
Z Magazine, 20(3), March 2007. [PDF
version]
"Who Learns What in Participatory Democracy? Participatory
Budgeting in Rosario, Argentina", (with Daniel Schugurensky)
in Ruud van der Veen, Danny Wildemeersch, Janet Youngblood and Victoria
Marsick (eds.), Democratic Practices as Learning Opportunities,
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2007. [PDF
of earlier version of chapter, presented in 2005]
"Let
the People Decide: Transformative Community Development through
Participatory Budgeting in Canada," Shelterforce,
146, Summer 2006. [PDF
version]
"Participatory
Budgeting in Canada: Democratic Innovations in Strategic Spaces",
(with Estair Van Wagner) The Transnational Institute, 2006. [PDF
version]
"Why
the World Social Forum Needs to Be Less Like Neoliberalism",
Toward
Freedom, January 16, 2006. [PDF
version]
"Planning
Open Space: The World Social Forum and Neoliberalism",
Progressive Planning, 163, Spring 2005.
"Up,
Down, Inside, Outside: (New) Directions for Progressive Planning
in the U.S.", Progressive Planning, 162, Winter
2005.
"Building
a Democratic City: How Participatory Budgeting Can Work in Toronto",
City of Toronto, Community Engagement Unit, 2004.
"Beyond
Civil Society: Public Engagement Alternatives for Canadian Trade
Policy", Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy,
2003.
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