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Theme-based book review: Inclusion, social cohesion, and innovation
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Theme-based book review: Inclusion, social cohesion, and innovation

Christopher L. Atkinson
International Journal of Public Administration, Vol.44, pp.446-450
44
2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2020.1717528
Web of Science ID: WOS:000621180900011

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Abstract

Interest in community-centered, inclusive public policy is not limited to any particular nation or region. The focus outward – back to the community being represented – is a common call in the midst of policy failures, or worse, official corruption. Negative impacts of public programs have been met with demands for participation and community involvement; this may signal intent to achieve accountability, but the marginalization of disadvantaged groups may persist (Arcand & Wagner, 2016). As matters get worse, calls for involvement, participation, and social cohesion rise. Programs that fail to adequately address the lived experience of the citizen/client have challenged the attainment and maintenance of public sector legitimacy. Elitecreated programs tend to favor elite interests, reflective of elite worldviews. In participation terms, solutions may be devised on the basis of a few powerful interests, leaving out the majority of stakeholders. The people may be represented through their vote, but there is not necessarily an understanding of exactly how an official will vote or respond when they enter the office. Actual accountability, through solicitation of public input and action based upon input received, may be less evident. A process may be transparent, as far as staying within the requirements of written rules, but the result may be a poor demonstration of representativeness, in consequential involvement and ability to help guide public decisions (Ratinen, 2019). The capacity of public employees to address and resolve complex societal problems is hampered by a deficiency of available resources on one hand, and conflicting direction from above on the other. In the disagreeable middle, officials are tasked with serving diverse publics, making sense of complex rules and regulations, and trying to achieve the best value. Within the public space, there is an increasing recognition that the larger social capital of communities is tied to this participation and involvement, and that quality of life, or lack thereof, may derive from whether cohesion exists in the social sphere. This essay considers three recent books on the topic of inclusion, writ large: Public Service Management and Asylum: Co-production, Inclusion and Citizenship, by Kirsty Strokosch; Giving Behaviours and Social Cohesion: How People Who ‘Give’ Make Better Communities, by Lorna Zischka; and Handbook of Inclusive Innovation: The Role of Organizations, Markets and Communities in Social Innovation, edited by Gerard George, Ted Baker, Paul Tracey, and Havovi Joshi.

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