In this In Brief, we challenge the prevailing narrative in global development that organisations can use their outreach to take the public on an engagement ‘journey,’ whereby members of the public advance from a low engagement category to higher one. New research conducted shows that engagement is not a linear process: individuals in less-engaged groups are more likely to stay that way, while more engaged groups move more often.
This In Brief is based on data originally published in Development in Practice, in a paper titled, ‘Not one, but many publics’: Public engagement with global development in France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States,’ authored by Jennifer Hudson, David Hudson, Paolo Morini, Harold Clarke and Marianne C. Stewart.