Can political hacks ever allow citizen expertise to outweigh the influence of institutional professionals?

When everything must flow from the brilliance of the Great Leader, there isn't much room for initiatives coming from outside the inner circle, jerk.

Why Citizen Experts Are The New Paradigm, by Dylan Meert (Citizen Lab)

We have the means to build a strong digital environment where citizens can connect with each other. This opens up the possibility of calling upon their collective expertise. So, why do we still put forward an institutional class of professionals as our go-to solution to solve today’s challenges?

 ... Granting the exclusive rights of dealing with everyday problems to an institutional class of professionals wasn’t the best way, it was the only way. But not anymore.

Citizen expertise expertise on a governmental level not only raises its legitimacy, but also its efficiency. It holds the promise of a future of co-creation, of a government who is in direct contact with its citizens, of the possibility to real participation. All this to your individual preferences and efforts.

Declining youth participation in team sports -- more in the 'burbs, less in the city and rural areas.

When I was a kid, I played baseball and basketball in organized leagues, both in and out of school, though never to the saturation level of some children playing today. Being on a team in a team sport can be a fine learning experience, so long as it's an actual team, although I've long held that I learned more about teamwork singing in choir and being in a play than from sports.

Consequently, the most fun I've ever had in "athletics" came from walking, biking and hiking -- often alone. Make the entire city a playground, and it will be used as such. Any other way, and the wealthier kids will get more of the rewards.

First, data suggesting that young people are less interested in team sports than before.

online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303519404579350892629229918">Youth Participation Weakens in Basketball, Football, Baseball, Soccer ... Fewer Children Play Team Sports, by Ryan Wallerson (Wall Street Journal)

... While high-school baseball participation rose 0.3% in the period, some data on the next generation of players presage a decline: Little League baseball—the biggest children's baseball league—reports that U.S. participation in its baseball and softball leagues in 2012 was 6.8% below that in 2008.

Then, following the data all the way to the 'burbs.

"Hey, data data -- swing!": The hidden demographics of youth sports, by Bruce Kelley and Carl Carchia (ESPN The Magazine)

 ... Indeed, Sabo's WSF data paints a distinct picture of suburbs where swaths of kids in elementary and middle school, especially boys, play on three, four or five teams, and the culture revolves around their practices, tourneys and getting to their games. In contrast, childhood in cities and rural areas isn't as intensely sports-focused.