Citizen Participation In Public Policy Research Articles

Citizen participation through direct legislation: a road to success? A perspective from Switzerland

Citizen participation is generally considered crucial to ensuring that policies effectively address public needs. But there is a long-running debate over how far such participation should go. This article focuses on one of the most far-reaching forms of citizen participation in public policy making– direct legislation– and asks to what extent it can bring about good governance outcomes in the political, economic and social spheres. Focusing on the case of Switzerland, where direct legislation is established and frequent, the article draws on existing studies to discuss long-term impacts of citizen participation in public policy-making. The evidence shows that, in the Swiss case, direct legislation contributed to consensual politics, a favourable environment for economic development, as well as high citizen satisfaction. The conclusion discusses to what extent these findings generalise beyond the Swiss case.

An Analysis of the Effective Ways to Improve Citizen Participation in Public Policy Making in China

Citizens' participation in the formulation of government public policies is an important way for citizens to participate in decision-making. The article examines citizen participation in the process of public policy making in China, pointing out the new trend of citizen participation and identifying some problems of citizen participation, such as insufficient motivation of citizen participation and the prevalence of extra-institutional participation. The reasons for these problems are analyzed in depth and countermeasures are proposed, such as improving the relevant legal system and increasing the supervision and feedback of the policy-making process

Resilience Ethics and Sustainable Governance


 Resilience ethics means a shared ethical responsibility for our actions and environment. Sustainable governance is interested in the complexity of sustainability and the rise of resilience thinking. There are multiple ways to apply the idea of resilience to shared narratives about public problems and environmental concerns for the future. In particular, resilience ethics are related to human interventions in ecosystems and the resultant responsibility to care for them. The integration of resilience and sustainability leads us to study the distribution of wealth and other root causes of social inequality and injustice. The current paper argues that institutional change and collective action are critical elements in society’s resilience. Therefore, three global problems should be addressed as the focus of resilience and sustainability: (1) divided societies and growing inequalities should be considered in terms of income distribution, employment, and education; (2) wealth and power should be redistributed in terms of common-pool resources and affected communities; and (3) intersectional inequality should be reconsidered in different axes of oppression and social injustice. A renewed perspective for democratic and responsible citizenship is required to enhance direct citizen participation in public policies and social change. In this regard, social and administrative scientific advances create opportunities for the resilient future.

Citizen Participation in the Formulation of Public Policy in Mombasa County, Kenya

To assist the government in determining its mandate, citizens should be involved as they best know their needs. The significance of citizen engagement in the process of policy formulation is rooted in among others, the fact that public policy outputs and effects affect those to whom the policy is targeted at. This study aimed to determine the effect of public participation in the public policy making process in Mombasa County, Kenya. The objectives of the research were; to establish the modes of citizen participation used in public policy making process in Mombasa County, Kenya; to determine the main factors that influence citizen participation in public policy making process; to establish the implication of citizen participation in public policy making process and to determine the extent of citizen/ public participation in public policy making process. The study was guided by Good Governance Theory. The study utilized descriptive survey research design. The study targeted 560 County government and civil society representatives including women leaders, youth leaders and people living with disabilities representatives. The study used Yamane formulae to determine the sample size of 233 respondents. Purposive sampling was employed to select respondents. Data were collected through primary sources which include questionnaire, and interview schedule; while the secondary data were collected from the documentary sources. Data analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially, and presented through frequency tables, pie chart and bar graphs. Qualitative data were analyzed by themes and presented through narration and pros forms. The findings of the study established that the main factors that affect citizen participation in formulation of public policy include direct benefits (financial, material), tangible or non-tangible to long or short term, among others. Other factors such as culture, history, government policy and social, political and economic structures influence community participation. Also, the findings of the study revealed that citizens are well acquainted with public policy processes and there is effective county government guidelines and clear standards enhance public policy making processes. The study findings revealed that involvement in policy formulation is positively related to performance. Also, consultation enables easy supervision of work. The research also concluded that education is essential for both parties who are participating towards high quality public policy formulation as it would certainly reduce unnecessary manipulation and the problem brought on by lack of knowledge, accountability and transparency and understanding of each party’s requirements. The study recommends that County Government of Mombasa should establish a participatory framework that allows citizens to monitor and evaluate development outcomes in the counties to ensure better decision making and implementation for subsequent projects and plans.

POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS Y PARTICIPACIÓN CIUDADANA

La participación ciudadana no es generado solo porque la población sea invitada por un gobierno a hacerlo, debe haberse propiciado una oportunidad de participación, no depende únicamente de las herramientas facilitadas por el Estado, sino del involucramiento de la ciudadanía en la administración pública, su compromiso, empoderamiento y responsabilidad adquiridos por los ciudadanos, articulando al Estado con la sociedad civil donde se tiene como resultados instituciones más eficaces y una democracia más robusta y fortalecida incrementando la confianza de los ciudadanos, donde el acceso de información debe ser “vitrina pública”, implicando procedimientos, procesos, normas y valores, siendo un desafío organizacional donde la producción, distribución y manejo deben ser las tareas principales de la política pública. En esta investigación de tipo bibliográfica, la metodología implicó una revisión de la literatura académica: documentos oficiales; diversos sitios web; revistas de acceso libre. El objetivo es determinar la importancia de la participación ciudadana en las políticas públicas como estrategia de gobernanza donde las instituciones públicas actúen de forma transparente y responsable, en beneficio de la sociedad. Se concluye que su éxito y su estabilidad dependen en buena medida de los procesos de participación democrática y de la agenda de gobierno que se lleve a cabo con eficacia, legitimidad y ética, aplicando los principios de la administración pública y la comunicación para lograr la efectividad de las políticas públicas.

El hambre: abordaje desde la seguridad alimentaria hasta el derecho a la alimentación

El hambre se ha abordado desde una visión esencialmente medicalizada. Un enfoque integral de este creciente problema ha sido evadido por la política propuesta por los organismos multilaterales, que lo han reducido a un asunto de producción de alimentos que garanticen disponibilidad de los mismos. Un abordaje más complejo requiere tener en cuenta los diversos actores que están relacionados en el proceso, desde quienes producen los alimentos, hasta quienes los consumen, las políticas alimentarias y los derechos de todos como seres humanos. Así, este artículo pretende brindar una mirada holística al problema del hambre, analizándolo desde la Seguridad Alimentaria, pasando por la Soberanía Alimentaria y desembocando en el Derecho a la Alimentación como posible camino para la solución del mismo. Con base en un análisis de literatura disponible, se concluye en la necesidad de un cambio de paradigma en la implementación de acciones en territorio y la pertinencia de la participación ciudadana en las políticas públicas.

Что скрывается за «фасадом»? Исследовательская программа электронного участия в недемократических странах

Currently, non-democracies are showing a significant interest in e-participation tools, i.e. in various online mechanisms for citizen participation in public policy, such as epetitions and e-consultations. Such instruments can be found in a vast range of countries from the post-Soviet space to the Middle East. This leads to new interpretations of the role ICT play in regime dynamics, and describes the peculiarities of contemporary authoritarianism. While the Internet has long been considered a liberation technology, it is currently viewed as providing stability of the authoritarian regime. In these circumstances, e-participation is becoming another pseudo-democratic institution, adapted as a tool for authoritarian consolidation. Although the number of works aimed at understanding this phenomenon is increasing, the research agenda is far from being complete. This paper, first, summarizes what we know and do not know about e-participation in authoritarian contexts, and second, outlines several prospects for further research. In this regards, the author considers e-participation as a policy, institution and process. As a policy, e-participation is the result of the global innovation diffusion and policy learning. The most likely recipient of this innovation among non-democracies is a regime dependent upon internal and external legitimation, as well as having sufficient state potential for reforms. Quite often, e-participation becomes a window-dressing for a repressive Internet-policy and does not go beyond websites. At the same time, e-participation can become a full-fledged institution of authoritarian consolidation, performing the same functions as other institutions, such as information gathering and monitoring the elites. For this, online mechanisms must have a certain institutional design and manipulation menu. It eventually helps dictators to channel Internet protests into the spaces that are fully controlled by the government. E-participation in non-democracies as a process remains an underexplored issue. The evidence prove that the use of such mechanisms indeed makes citizens consider the government to be more legitimate. However, it is to be further explained who, why and with what result is engaged into non-democratic e-participation. The author argues that a stronger integration between comparative authoritarianism and e-participation studies would be beneficial for both areas of research. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17072/2218-1067-2018-3-50-66

Administrative traditions and citizen participation in public policy: a comparative study of France, Germany, the UK and Norway

The participation of citizens in public policy-making has become a key aim for national and supranational institutions across Europe, but the relative importance policy-makers actually accord citizen participation arguably varies due to the alternative administrative traditions within different countries. Using data drawn from a large-scale survey of senior public managers in France, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK) and Norway, we find support for the idea that administrative tradition influences the participation of citizens in public policy. We also identify key institutional factors determining the importance of citizen participation. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Mechanisms to facilitate citizen participation in public policy making

This study aimed to identify mechanisms to facilitate citizen participation in public policy making in Islamic Parliament of Iran. After conducting a thorough review of the research literature and extracting the Arnstein ladder of participation, the current level of citizens' participation in public policy making, first from the Islamic Consultative Assembly representatives' and next from citizens' viewpoint, was considered. The results showed the current level of public participation in public policy making. Then a few interviews with the university professors and the Islamic Parliament representatives were held to identify mechanisms to facilitate citizen participation in public policy making based on the current level of participation. The data were analysed using theme analysis and then ten mechanisms were extracted. Finally, the mechanisms were prioritised using TOPSIS technique in terms of effectiveness and efficiency and the final model was extracted. Based on findings, three most important solutions are respectively 'broadcasting participation educational programs', 'electronic participation' and 'forming factions as their roles are absolutely obvious'.

Mechanisms to facilitate citizen participation in public policy making

Mechanisms to facilitate citizen participation in public policy making

Study on the Participation of Citizens in Public Policy Formulation

Hot topic in the world of political democratic development is citizen participation, in the governance of the community, public policy making is a key element, citizen’s participation can unify the wisdom of the masses, and thus safeguard the fairness of the policy-making and rationality, so it will bring accordance for public policy formulation, evaluation, and adjustment. Today, citizen participation in public policy making in our country is an important way of citizen participation, is being gradually spread. To this end, this paper describes an effective strategy to improve citizen participation in public policy formulation.

Citizen participation, community resilience and crisis-management policy

This article presents two arguments. The first relates to the relevance of citizen participation vis-à-vis the design and implementation of public policy. More specifically, the article empirically demonstrates how a model of community decentralisation can have a number of practical benefits for crisis-management policy. The second argument relates to a question that has come to characterise studies of citizen participation in public policy. Why is it that there is so much rhetoric in support of participation but so little action in terms of the day-to-day realities of policy implementation? We place this question in a crisis-management context so that we might ask: why is it that crisis-management systems built around the principles of community resilience continue to fail on these very grounds? We find our answer to this question in state-centric governance settings which devolve authority, but do not relinquish it.本文提出两个观点。第一个观点涉及公民参与对于公共政策设计和实施的意义。具体地说，本文用实证的方法说明社区分权模式如何对危机管理政策产生一系列实际效益。第二个观点涉及公民参与公共政策的问题：为什么对公民参与口头上不吝支持，而日常政策的实施上却不见动静？这个问题可以放在危机管理的语境中重新提问：为什么围绕着社区弹性原则的危机管理体系仍以这样的理由失效？我们的答案是：以政府为中心的治理环境虽然转移但并未放弃权威。

Internet's impact on expert–citizen interactions in public policymaking—A meta analysis

Abstract This article studies the internet's impact on expert–citizen interactions in the process of public policymaking. It examines a possible solution to a classical democratic dilemma of citizens' right to participate versus citizens' ability to participate. Through a meta-analysis of the past studies on internet's impact on citizen participation in public policy making, the authors find that the internet has successfully reduced resource difference between policy experts and the citizens as promised. However, the technology itself does not provide all the answers. Exogenous factors such as personal characteristics, decision environment, and institutional factors all play a role in enhancing the impact of the internet. Continued education and institutional innovations are necessary to encourage citizen–expert collaboration and reduce resource difference between the citizens and policy experts. Also, more clearly defined and systematic theoretical and empirical studies are needed to help facilitate our understanding of efficient citizen–expert interactions in public policy making by way of the internet technology. 1

Pluralism by Design: Environmental Policy and the American Regulatory State.George Hoberg

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsPluralism by Design: Environmental Policy and the American Regulatory State. George Hoberg Jeanne N. ClarkeJeanne N. Clarke Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Politics Volume 55, Number 3Aug., 1993 Sponsored by the Southern Political Science Association Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2132010 Views: 2Total views on this site Citations: 9Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1993 University of Texas PressPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Heinz Welsch What Shapes Satisfaction with Democracy? Interests, Morals, and the German East–West Divide, Social Indicators Research 163, no.11 (Feb 2022): 197–217.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-022-02893-xDominika Proszowska, Giedo Jansen, Bas Denters On their own turf? The level-specificity of political trust in multilevel political systems, Acta Politica 57, no.33 (May 2021): 510–528.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-021-00206-7Graciela Tonon The Actors in the Process II: Citizen Participation in Public Policies, (Apr 2022): 71–89.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90467-8_5Ross Campbell How critical are Germans of democracy? The pattern and origins of constitutional support in Germany, Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe 28, no.2-32-3 (Oct 2020): 113–133.https://doi.org/10.1080/25739638.2020.1833562Raül Tormos Measuring Personal Economic Hardship and Its Impact on Political Trust During the Great Recession, Social Indicators Research 144, no.33 (Feb 2019): 1209–1232.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02082-3Timothy S Rich, Carolyn E Holmes Winning is not everything: Public perceptions of losers and non-voters in South Africa, Acta Politica 51, no.33 (Sep 2015): 328–345.https://doi.org/10.1057/ap.2015.17Sven Oskarsson Generalized trust and political support: A cross-national investigation, Acta Politica 45, no.44 (Nov 2010): 423–443.https://doi.org/10.1057/ap.2010.3André Blais, François Gélineau Winning, Losing and Satisfaction with Democracy, Political Studies 55, no.22 (Nov 2016): 425–441.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2007.00659.xBenjamin Radcliff The Political Economy of Human Happiness, (Jan 2001): 33–45.https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502185_3