As everyone in my profession knows, the way to engage employees in an organization is to seek their opinion on how to change it. You normally get some good ideas back, but the other huge value is that people who have had a say in designing their organization are far more committed to making it work. They become more productive and innovative and develop better relationships with their clients. So does this logic extend to neighbourhoods and communities? If the library, post office and school in your area are run by your neighbours – perhaps with some help from you – are you more likely to feel positively about local services? And if you do, might you be more positive about the government, in whose work you now play a small but meaningful role? Would you be more likely to vote for them in future? My guess is that the greater your personal contribution to one of these initiatives, the greater your fear of change come election time. I’m wondering how to test this in the next few months. Any thoughts?