Policy Brief
A new policy brief explores how civic culture can reshape social norms, encourage collective action, and drive lasting behavioral change.
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In a new policy brief, former Allen Lab Policy Fellow Paulius Yamin (AY25-26) examines what the civic culture interventions of former Bogotá mayor Antanas Mockus can teach people trying to change collective behavior today. Drawing on interviews, questionnaires, and 24 years of press coverage, Yamin identifies six recurring features of these interventions. They include reinterpreting everyday symbols, using questions and humor instead of enforcement, and creating public spectacles in which citizens could observe and regulate one another’s behavior. Connecting these lessons to Professor Danielle Allen’s work on power-sharing, the brief argues that collective problems call for interventions that build citizens’ agency. It offers practical lessons for policymakers and behavioral scientists working on violence, corruption, public safety, and other challenges that depend on how people act together.
To read the full paper, scroll up and click “Download the PDF” to the right of your screen.
Paulius Yamin is an affiliate of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation and a Partnership Professor at Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania. In the past, he was a Policy Fellow at the Allen Lab, the Scientific Director of the Paris Institute for Advanced Study, and the Managing Director at the Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the positions of the Ash Center or its affiliates.
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