Abstract
The purpose of this article is to deepen the understanding of how co-management and deliberative democracy relate to one another. Deliberation is an understudied aspect of common-pool resource theory that could be developed by a closer connection to deliberative democratic theory. Co-management studies may also provide needed empirical insights to deliberative democratic theory. A framework is developed to analyze to what degree co-management arrangements incorporate deliberative elements. To test its usefulness, a case study of a co-management process in Sweden is analyzed. In Funäsdalsfjällen, a conflict-ridden situation caused by snowmobiles ended in agreement and the establishment of a municipal regulation area. Central and regional authorities initially failed to resolve the conflict, but when the municipality started working directly with the relevant interest groups, agreement was reached. Deliberative elements are shown central to the success, and it is concluded that co-management and deliberative democratic approaches indeed do cross-fertilize one another.
Highlights
A case study from Funäsdalsfjällen, situated in the western-most part of Sweden, will be used to explore the usefulness of integrating deliberative democratic theory into the discussion of co-management
Most cases of co-management, “a collaborative and participatory process of regulatory decision-making between representatives of user-groups, government agencies, research institutions, and other stakeholders” (Jentoft 2003, 3), provide opportunities to explore whether deliberative democracy is well suited to solve complex, multi-faceted problems characterized by value conflicts and may in this way contribute to deliberative democratic theory
The present study shows that cross-fertilization between co-management and deliberative democratic theory is possible
Summary
A case study from Funäsdalsfjällen, situated in the western-most part of Sweden, will be used to explore the usefulness of integrating deliberative democratic theory into the discussion of co-management. Most cases of co-management, “a collaborative and participatory process of regulatory decision-making between representatives of user-groups, government agencies, research institutions, and other stakeholders” (Jentoft 2003, 3), provide opportunities to explore whether deliberative democracy is well suited to solve complex, multi-faceted problems characterized by value conflicts and may in this way contribute to deliberative democratic theory. There is increasing emphasis on deliberation in natural resource literature but few references are made to deliberative democratic theory (Parkins and Mitchell 2005). Deliberation has been pointed out as a “key understudied issue” (Stern et al 2002, 470) within the study of the commons to which co-management theory belongs
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