[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-596555-105":59,"doc-detail-596555-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","challenging-political-spectacle-through-grassroots-policy-dialogues-paper","CHALLENGING POLITICAL SPECTACLE THROUGH GRASSROOTS POLICY DIALOGUES - Paper","","Grassroots policy dialogues hosted by community organizations can strengthen democratic participation by increasing participants’ clarity about education policy issues, policy processes, and citizens’ perspectives. Based on case-study data from one Canadian and two U.S. grassroots organizations, the findings show that engagement in dialogue improves understanding and helps some participants take direct action within policy processes. These authentic engagement opportunities can challenge political spectacle dynamics that frame citizens as passive observers.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/challenging-political-spectacle-through-grassroots-policy-dialogues-paper/596555/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/challenging-political-spectacle-through-grassroots-policy-dialogues-paper/596555.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Alexandar","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How do grassroots policy dialogues affect participants’ understanding of education policy?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Participants gain greater clarity about education policy issues, policy processes, and citizens’ perspectives through dialogue engagement.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What outcomes can dialogue participation produce in education policy processes?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Some participants develop the ability to take direct action to influence policy processes, beyond improved awareness and knowledge.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why do the authors describe contemporary education policy as political spectacle?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"They argue it frames citizens as passive observers of privileged decision-makers, with hidden backstage negotiations and reduced opportunities for genuine democratic participation.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},596555,1792211031,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":41,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},962090768658,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","CHALLENGING POLITICAL SPECTACLE  \nTHROUGH GRASSROOTS POLICY DIALOGUES  \nSue Winton, York University, and Michael P. Evans, Miami University  \nCan simply talking about policy strengthen democracy? Drawing on data  \ncollected for case studies of one Canadian and two U. S. grassroots  \norganizations, we demonstrate that taking part in policy dialogues hosted by  \ngrassroots organizations enables participants to gain greater clarity regarding policy issues, policy processes, and citizens’ perspectives and enhances some participants’ ability to take direct action in policy processes. These outcomes, and the opportunities for authentic engagement in policy processes offered by grassroots policy dialogues, can help challenge contemporary policy processes characterized as political spectacle, and, ultimately, enhance democracy in  \neducation. Implications of the findings for grassroots organizations and the  \nfield of community organizing are also discussed.  \nIntroduction  \nHow can ordinary citizens meaningfully impact education? Despite discourses of parent and community involvement in education, education policy processes in Canada and the United States are characterized as political spectacle: a drama wherein citizens are cast as passive observers ofa small group of privileged decision-makers on a metaphorical stage (Anderson, 2009; Smith, Miller-Kahn, Heinecke, & Jarvis, 2004; Winton, 2010b) . Dissatisfied with public schools and conventional means of parent and community involvement, more citizens are turning to grassroots organizations in hopes of influencing school policy reform (Shirley, 2011) . Oneway grassroots organizations engage citizens in education policy processes is through policy dialogues. Policy dialogues are discussions between individuals about policy issues, processes, experiences, and possibilities. Grassroots organizations may engage citizens in policy dialogues  \nas part ofa larger change strategy or as an opportunity for exchanging ideas, thoughts, and experiences. This article examines outcomes of policy dialogues hosted by three grassroots organizations (one in Canada and two in the United States) for participants and democratic policy processes.  \nThe activities of various grassroots reform efforts in education are documented by scholars in the burgeoning academic field of grassroots, youth, and community organizing (e.g., Evans, 2011; Mediratta, Shah, & McAlister, 2009; Oakes, Rogers, & Lipton, 2006; Orr & Rogers, 2011; Shirley, 2011; Warren & Mapp, 2011) . This body of work highlights grassroots groups’ strategies and successes and their potential to effect policy change. The challenge for ordinary citizens to participate in policy processes is also recognized by education policy scholars who characterize contemporary education policy making in the United States and Canada as political spectacle (Edelman, 1988) and call for greater democracy in education policy processes (Brown & Wright, 2011; Smith et al., 2004) . In this article we contribute to these two fields of research and examine if and how policy dialogues hosted by grassroots organizations can challenge political spectacle.  \nWe begin by introducing the theory of political spectacle, reviewing recent research that uses this theory to understand contemporary policy processes, and exploring democratic alternatives to political spectacles. Next, we examine how grassroots organizations engage in education policy processes and define policy dialogues. We then introduce the three grassroots organizations we examined and describe the methodological approach to our study. A discussion of the findings follows. The findings indicate that participants who engage in education policy dialogues hosted by grassroots organizations increase their awareness and knowledge of education policy issues and some also develop their ability to take direct action to influence  \npolicy processes. These outcomes can help challenge contemporary policy processes characteri","cbCais4GOSsGkBxk","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCais4GOSsGkBxk","pdf",268220,"English","# Introduction\n## What Is Political Spectacle?\n### Political spectacle as political construction\n### Undemocratic policy processes","[{\"question\":\"How do grassroots policy dialogues affect participants’ understanding of education policy?\",\"answer\":\"Participants gain greater clarity about education policy issues, policy processes, and citizens’ perspectives through dialogue engagement.\"},{\"question\":\"What outcomes can dialogue participation produce in education policy processes?\",\"answer\":\"Some participants develop the ability to take direct action to influence policy processes, beyond improved awareness and knowledge.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do the authors describe contemporary education policy as political spectacle?\",\"answer\":\"They argue it frames citizens as passive observers of privileged decision-makers, with hidden backstage negotiations and reduced opportunities for genuine democratic participation.\"}]","CHALLENGING POLITICAL SPECTACLE THROUGH GRASSROOTS POLICY DIALOGUES - Paper | PDF",1792083293,76]