Voices, Geography, and Technical Complexity: Exploring Project Contexts and Public Participation Goals

Abstract

Extant scholarship of public participation theory has reflected a continued need to examine the preconditions that affect public managers' decisions in implementing public participation activities. This article explores the relationship between distinct contextual attributes and public managers' expressed goals for public participation. This study illustrates that project contextual characteristics do matter in how public managers articulate their goals for public participation. Specifically, the findings reflect that the volume of stakeholder voices, geographic scope and technical complexity of a project contribute to how public managers articulate their goals for public participation.