Exploring Citizen Professional Practice: A Case Study of the Twin Cities Rabbinical Community

Abstract

Public policy leaders, in order to ensure sustainable, relevant policy in the twenty-first century, must design and discover new approaches to citizen participation and engagement, both of which have declined in recent decades. Scholars suggest that one of the reasons for this decline is a widening gap between professionals and the communities in which they work. If so, it follows that solutions lie in a renewed professional practice, which has been labeled democratic, public, or citizen professionalism. Such professionalism emphasizes the knowledge, responsibility, and capacity of the community, together with that of the professional, for success in work. This paper examines this possibility via a case study of the professional practices of congregational rabbis in St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2009.