Focusing on the intersection of game design and civic engagement, the author explores how innovative approaches can enhance democratic participation. As Co-founder and Executive Director of the Participatory Budgeting Project, he draws from real-world experiences to illustrate how playful strategies can empower citizens and reshape political landscapes. The book emphasizes the potential of fun and engaging methods to foster a more vibrant and inclusive democracy.
Josh Lerner, leading Harvard Business School professor, explores what lies behind successful innovation, and what managers and companies can learn from successful and unsuccessful cases. He combines both analysis of in-house innovation in corporate research labs, with more finance based venture capital investment in innovation.
"Anyone who has ever been to a public hearing or community meeting would agree that participatory democracy can be boring. Hours of repetitive presentations, alternatingly alarmist or complacent, for or against, accompanied by constant heckling, often with no clear outcome or decision. Is this the best democracy can offer? In Making Democracy Fun, Josh Lerner offers a novel solution for the sad state of our deliberative democracy: the power of good game design. What if public meetings featured competition and collaboration (such as team challenges), clear rules (presented and modeled in multiple ways), measurable progress (such as scores and levels), and engaging sounds and visuals? These game mechanics would make meetings more effective and more enjoyable—even fun. Lerner reports that institutions as diverse as the United Nations, the U.S. Army, and grassroots community groups are already using games and game-like processes to encourage participation. Drawing on more than a decade of practical experience and extensive research, he explains how games have been integrated into a variety of public programs in North and South America. He offers rich stories of game techniques in action, in children’s councils, social service programs, and participatory budgeting and planning. With these real-world examples in mind, Lerner describes five kinds of games and twenty-six game mechanics that are especially relevant for democracy. He finds that when governments and organizations use games and design their programs to be more like games, public participation becomes more attractive, effective, and transparent. Game design can make democracy fun—and make it work."--Publisher's website
Looks at the ways governments have supported entrepreneurs and venture capitalists across decades and continents. This title provides insights into why some public initiatives work while others are hobbled by pitfalls, and offers suggestions for how public ventures should be implemented.
Explores the interplay between open source and proprietary software and its effects on economic development.