An approach grounded in decades of theory, evidence, and experience in over 40 countries + every region.
Legis draws on a rich intellectual history in the field of legisprudence, as well as the decades of experience our staff and partners bring to designing our courses and services, technological innovations, and programs to support Participatory Problem Solving.
Legis’s courses and materials are grounded in the institutionalist legislative theory of problem solving originally articulated by Ann Seidman, PhD, and Bob Seidman, JD., who themselves drew on the work of John Dewey, Jürgen Habermas, and John Rawls, among other leading thinkers.
Legis’s founders, Lorna Seitz, JD, and Laura Lucas, PhD, spent decades researching this theory’s effectiveness, applying it to hundreds of different social problems, and assessing how it was being employed in institutions around the world. They worked with colleagues in every region of the world to adapt the Seidmans’ theory on the basis of this extensive research and practical experience. Legis has expanded the Seidman theory to
incorporate findings from psychology, management, and behavioral change communications research
refine the theory to address the variety of legal traditions and the differences among regions without an experience of British common law (as the Seidmans’ theory focused on common-law jurisdictions)
add practical tools for legislatively establishing monitoring and evaluation and progressive objectives realization
use 21st-century technology to increase opportunities for meaningful public involvement in community problem solving, improve governance outcomes, streamline intra-governmental task sharing, and reduce institutional memory loss.
Our revised Participatory Problem-Solving (PPS) approach provides a unifying framework for solving complex, pressing, persistent, and emerging societal problems. PPS provides a common language and methdology that elected representatives, civil servants, stakeholders, and issue advocates can use to assess institutional functioning and to design laws, policies, and programs addressing the causes of societal problems.