Inside P2

Don Lenihan is a Canadian thought leader who has spent several years focusing on public engagement and open government . His 2012 book, Rescuing Policy: The Case for Public Engagement, provides a primer on public engagement, consultation and deliberation. This year, he is publishing a series of three articles examining issues related to open government and public engagement. The first article, co-authored with Tom Pitfield, The Rise of Civil Analytics: How Big Data is About to Explode Policymaking As We Know It, developed the concept of civil analytics as "a holistic approach to data, the tools that can be used to analyze it, and the various people who should be engaged to examine it." The second paper in the series, "What is 'Open Dialogue' and Is It the Answer to 'Post-Fact' Populism?" looks more deeply at open dialogue and deliberation. I think that Don's papers are a must-read for anyone interested in understanding how government and institutions can engage the public in discussions of policies, values a