Just a start...
by John Craig
The only thing worse than being talked about is not being, so all must be well. In addition to a typically thoughtful contribution from Will Davies, Kevin Harris and David Wilcox (here and here) have been good enough to blog some thoughts on Friday�s Start with People launch.
Their comments remind me that Start with People is perhaps an unconventional pamphlet that had a conventional launch. Both are attempts to contribute to a conversation about what Kevin calls the local level, and to demonstrate its significance in new contexts. But as our correspondents imply, the proof is in the pudding. We must model participation in the way we work and help to build a �community of participation� (as we describe them in the pamphlet) around the issue of participation itself. Our text, along side Everyday Democracy, is an early indication of our eagerness to do both of these things.
As the report's opening quotation makes clear, the 'art of association', that so fascinated de Tocqueville, is hardly new. Nevertheless, with the publication of documents like Together We Can, the challenge remains to build a sense of energy and possibility around this work. This is a challenge in which we hope Demos will play a sustained role.