Participation (decision making)

Participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions - and ideally exert influence - regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participatory decision making can take place along any realm of human social activity, including economic (i.e. participatory economics), political (i.e. participatory democracy or parpolity), management (i.e. participatory management), cultural (i.e. polyculturalism) or familial (i.e. feminism).

For well-informed participation to occur, it is argued that some version of transparency, e.g. radical transparency, is necessary, but not sufficient. It has also been argued that those most affected by a decision should have the most say while those that are least affected should have the least say in a topic.

Contents

Objectives of participation

Participation activities may be motivated from an administrative perspective or a citizen perspective. From the administrative viewpoint, participation can build public support for activities. It can educate the public about an agency's activities. It can also facilitate useful information exchange regarding local conditions. Furthermore, participation is often legally mandated. From the citizen viewpoint, participation enables individuals and groups to influence agency decisions in a representational manner.[1]

Classifying participation

Sherry Arnstein discusses eight types of participation in A Ladder of Citizen Participation (1969). Often termed as "Arnstein's ladder", these are broadly categorized as:

She defines citizen participation as the redistribution of power that enables the have-not citizens, presently excluded from the political and economic processes, to be deliberately included in the future.[2]

Archon Fung presents another classification of participation based on three key questions: Who is allowed to participate, and are they representative of the population? What is the method of communication or decision-making? And how much influence or authority is granted to the participation?[3]

Other "ladders" of participation have been presented by D.M. Connor,[4] Wiedemann and Femers,[5] A. Dorcey et al.,[6] Jules N. Pretty[7] and E.M. Rocha.[8]

Specific participation activities

See also

References

  1. ^ Glass, J.J. (1979), "Citizen participation in planning: the relationship between objectives and techniques", Journal of the American Planning Association 45 (2): 180–189, http://www.informaworld.com/index/787369169.pdf, retrieved 2010-06-12 
  2. ^ Arnstein, S.R. (1969), "A Ladder of Citizen Participation", Journal of the American Planning Association 35 (4): 216–224, http://lithgow-schmidt.dk/sherry-arnstein/ladder-of-citizen-participation.html#d0e70, retrieved 2010-06-12 
  3. ^ Fung, A. (2006), "Varieties of Participation in Complex Governance", Public Administration Review-Washington Dc- 66: 66–75, http://www.archonfung.com/papers/FungVarietiesOfPart.pdf, retrieved 2010-06-12 
  4. ^ Connor, D.M. (2007), "A new ladder of citizen participation", National Civic Review 77 (3): 249–257, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/114107034/abstract, retrieved 2010-06-12 
  5. ^ Wiedemann, P.M.; Femers, S. (1993), "Public Participation in waste management decision making: analysis and management of conflicts", Journal of Hazardous Materials 33 (3): 355–368, http://geography.sdsu.edu/People/Pages/jankowski/public_html/web780/Wiedemann_Femers_1993.pdf, retrieved 2010-06-12 
  6. ^ Dorcey, A.; Doney, L.; Rueggeberg, H. (1994), "Public Involvement in government decision making: choosing the right model", BC Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, Victoria 
  7. ^ Pretty, Jules N. (1995). "Participatory Learning For Sustainable Agriculture". World development 23 (8): 1247–1263. 
  8. ^ Rocha, E.M. (1997), "A ladder of empowerment", Journal of Planning Education and Research 17 (1): 31, http://jpe.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/17/1/31, retrieved 2010-06-12 

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