Human-Centered Government: A Call to Action
For far too long we’ve been bombarded with this dominant narrative that, as McSwite (2002, p. 18) says, “The market is in; government is out.”
That narrative must be challenged.
As government practitioners and scholars, our work can and should be striving to do more than making more — or making the status quo cheaper and faster.
While, yes, there is an important place for promoting greater efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity, we must keep pushing for up front acknowledgement of our collective humanity.
Put aside the burnout; the feeling that we’re getting by trying to have a stable life for ourselves and those we love; and the pressure of showing off our status, success, or accomplishments, and we’ll see that deep down almost everyone wants the same things: to feel a sense of belonging, connection, and value.
We want opportunities to express ourselves, to make memories, to laugh, to come together, and to experience a sense of meaningfulness.
And above all, we want to love and to be loved.
The consumer or market mentality is easy. It’s quantifiable. Metrics give us a sense of purpose and direction. They give us an obvious indicator that we are succeeding, that we are progressing. But human beings are so much more than metrics.
Getting to a place where we’re all working together to lift up human dignity, speaking up for those on the margins, and striving to create equitable opportunities to live a full life and pursue happiness without fear and stigma might seem like a far away dream.
The fact is that we’ll only get there if we have hope and optimism. We must fight our inner cynic, overcome our jadedness, and find the others.
Government won’t solve all the world’s problems, but we can do our small part to be the change. It doesn’t have to be a new program. It can be a smile. It doesn’t need to be policy reform. It can be as simple as saying, “I hear you, I see you, I’m sorry.”
Let’s work toward a government that serves people, not customers; a government that promotes connection; a government that is empathetic to the struggles of millions of everyday folks; a government that is human.
References
McSwite, O. C. (2002). Invitation to Public Administration. ME Sharpe.
