Civil society, participatory democracy and Advisory Neighborhood Commissions

Text of the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Organizing independent of government, and civil society is partly about the ability "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
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On the ANC6A list, there is a robust discussion in response to a proposal to seek donations from entities that often have business before Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A. In DC, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions are bodies that have "great weight"--are consulted--on matters before DC government agencies, especially planning, zoning, historic preservation, certain building regulation matters, and alcoholic beverage sales. Commissioners are elected from districts containing about 1,800 residents, and there are something like 39 ANCs in the city, ranging from 3 to 15 members depending on the size of the commission. I have written about these organizations quite a bit over the years.

Here's my response to the thread (which I am not reprinting):

One of the things I used to say, after having become involved in the neighborhood in earnest around 2000, is that the great thing about the neighborhood from the perspective of developers and other interests is that people sell themselves for so little. One of my lines was "That you get $50 for a block party, and you're owned for life..."

That was based on my experience dealing with what we might call "legacy leadership" in the "near northeast" area centered around JO Wilson School.

Maybe you're all more sophisticated now...

It sure was frustrating back then, figuring out how the community mores were and functioned, identifying the real problems, and working to change them.

WRT block parties and such, the one criticism that I have of ANCs is more theoretical, irrespective of the incredible work that the post-2002 redistricted ANC6A has accomplished through the incredible efforts of so many people, both elected commissioners and nonelected volunteers, is that to my way of thinking, the one problem with ANCs is that they end up "governmentalizing" civil society at the most grassroots levels.

You don't need an elected neighborhood government to organize and collect money for block parties do you? ANCs end up capturing and diverting most of the best of the local leadership into government, and thinking that all problems are solvable and addressable by government, and the idea of "self-help" and independent involvement becomes somewhat crippled as a result.

ANCs end up capturing most of that energy and diverting what would normally be independent actions into the functions of "government." (Yes, I have functioned as and am more comfortable as an outsider, although I am a kind of "inside outsider" who works alongside govt. and in the community. I never ran for ANC, although I served on the 6C Planning and Zoning Committee from 2003-2005 and worked on many initiatives involving ANC commissioners [including Main Street revitalization and neighborhood historic preservation efforts], and from time to time I provided free consulting behind the scenes on particular issues--I don't really have the luxury of doing that now. And by the way, who wants to take over from me the hstreetdc and northside_dc and anc6c listservs?)

Why aren't there many independent, organized, and functioning neighborhood groups outside of the "elected" "government" of the ANCs?

A healthy functioning participating civil society has a robust number of independent groups and a great number and variety of social, cultural, and civic organizations.

I think that's not exactly dangerous, but it isn't a healthy sign of democracy. This idea of sponsored block parties and soliciting donations by the ANC is but one example.

This is the libertarian side of my left progressivism coming out.