Public Participation In Decision-making Research Articles

Public participation in decision making: A three-step procedure

This article introduces a novel model of public particpation in political decisions. Structured in three consecutive steps, the model is based on the view that stakeholders, experts, and citizens should each contribute to the planning effort their particular expertise and experience. Stakeholders are valuable resources for eliciting concerns and developing evaluative criteria since their interests are at stake and they have already made attempts to structure and approach the issue. Experts are necessary to provide the data base and the functional relationships between options and impacts. Citizens are the potential victims and benefactors of proposed planning measures; they are the best judges to evaluate the different options available on the basis of the concerns and impacts revealed through the other two groups. The three-step model has been developed and frequently applied as a planning tool in West Germany. We compare this experience with the model's first application in the United States, and conclude that the three-step procedure offers a limited, but promising future for democratizing policy making in the United States.

Public participation in decisions about health care

Public participation in decisions about health care

Public opinion and purchasing.

To explore the use of a questionnaire to obtain representative public opinions on health services. To examine residents' priorities, knowledge, and views on the public's role in decision making. Self administered postal questionnaire. Random sample of 1500 residents in Bath District Health Authority, drawn from electoral registers. Levels of agreement or disagreement with statements provided and degree of importance given to services and aspects of services. 70 questionnaires were returned unopened. Completed questionnaires were returned by 704 (49.2%) of the 1430 remaining residents. Kidney dialysis was thought very important by 559 (87%) respondents and family planning by only 58 (9%). Public priorities did not seem to reflect value for money. Clear information about treatment was rated as very important by 530 (76%) and comfortable waiting areas by 70 (10%). 372 (53%) of respondents said that they would definitely travel to a hospital outside the district to reduce their wait for surgery. Knowledge of the services provided by the authority and the money available to it was poor. 446 (65%) respondents wanted greater public involvement in decision making. A postal questionnaire can provide useful information about public priorities and perceptions about the services provided. More information about health services and their costs and benefits should be given to the public to assist greater public participation in decision making.

Can schools further democratic practices?

Can schools further democratic practices?

Public participation in neighbourhood change

The principle of public participation in decision-making by urban neighbourhood groups has been generally accepted by policy makers in the USA and Western Europe. In practice, however, the extent of public participation ranges from situations in which the concept has been actively incorporated into the urban policy and planning process to those in which planners and decision-makers pay only lip-service to the ideal. This paper examines recent evidence from Britain and North America and addresses the question of the extent to which residents can influence the character of their neighbourhoods. A range of possible strategies for public participation is reviewed, and an improved neighbourhood council model suggested as the most realistic means of achieving the goal of greater public participation in the process of neighbourhood change.

Citizen Participation in Public Decision Making. Edited by Jack DeSario and Stuart Langton (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1987. xii, 237p. $35.00).

Preface Part I. Democracy and Technocracy: An Overview Citizen Participation and Technocracy by Jack DeSario and Stuart Langton The Politics of Policy Analysis: The Role of Citizen Participation in Analytic Decision Making by Mary Grisez Kweit and Robert W. Kweit Public Service Centers: The Michigan Experience by Thomas L. Van Valey and James C. Peterson Beyond Technocracy: Anticipatory Democracy in Government and the Marketplace by Clement Bezold Part II. Current Decision-Making Strategies in the United States Public Participation: Reflections of the California Energy Policy Experience by Michael D. Reagan and Victoria Lynn Fedor-Thurman Procedures for Citizen Involvement in Environmental Policy: An Assessment by Marcus E. Ethridge Consumers and Health Planning: Mobilization of Bias? by Jack DeSario The Role of Citizen-Initiated Programs in the Formulation of National Housing Policies by Rachel G. Bratt Technocratic Versus Democratic Options for Educational Policy by Edward P. Morgan Part III. The Future of Public Decision Making in the United States Toward a Metapolicy for Social Planning by Jack DeSario and Stuart Langton Bibliography Index

Citizen Participation in Public Decision Making

Citizen Participation in Public Decision Making

Increasing Public Participation in Controversies Involving Hazards: The Value of Metastatistical Rules

Despite increased public concern over the social consequences of policies regarding hazardous substances and practices (e.g., nuclear technology, toxic wastes, carcinogenic substances), there has not been adequate public representation in the controversial decisions upon which these policies are based. The problem of inadequate public participation in controversies is therefore often raised in interdisciplinary studies of science, technology, and society. In a recent issue of Science, Technology, & Human Values,' for example, it was a common theme running through a diverse set of essays on the role of technical knowledge in regulatory decisionmaking. As those essays demonstrated, although many policy analysts apparently agree on the importance of public participation, there is no clear consensus about how the problem should be tackled and about what role, if any, interdisciplinary work in science studies can play. The problem of public participation in decisions on hazardous technologies arises out of the tension between the need for scientific expertise in assessing hazards and the desire that people in a democracy have control over important social decisions. Differing attitudes toward public participation reflect differing views on the nature and importance of the technical-scientific components of hazard regulation and the policy value ones.

The "Feudalistic" Legacy of Japanese Science

This article discusses the legacy of Tokugawa (1600-1867) feudalism and its meaning for modern science in Japan (1868-1920). With "feudalism" defined in terms of former samurai roles and privileges, its importance is considered in respect to the formation of a scientific community, creation of research institutions, decision making about science, and scientists' conduct in the laboratory setting. Special attention is also given to the impact of World War I on the policies and patterns of conduct associated, in part, with this earlier tradition. Analysis does not ignore Western influence but does stress the Japanese background. The principal conclusions are these: Most scientists in the period were samurai because of opportunity and motivation. A tendency to conflate science with technology and the government's desire to retain jurisdiction were forces in how institutions for research evolved. Role expectations for scientists did restrict their participation in public decisions that shaped their careers. And the feudalistic legacy in the laboratory setting was more positive than often suggested.

NEW TECHNOLOGY AND THE ADMINISTRATOR

Abstract: It is important to distinguish between the possible and the probable when speculating about developments in technology. It is difficult to foresee the uses which will be made of an invention, and often they are not the uses first proposed. With new technological developments almost anything is technically possible, although practical development of a possibility can be slower and more difficult than expected. Moreover, successful technical development does not guarantee acceptance by the public. Technology impinges on public administration in three ways. It is a tool, it creates new tasks, and new technology can change the expectations within society of the role and function of government and hence the role of public administration. Examples of the use of technology as a tool in public administration are evident in the areas of travel, telecommunications and data processing. Changes in technology create new administrative tasks related to increased public awareness of the dangers of many forms of technology, leading, for example, to consideration of problems of pollution, personal privacy and computer‐related crime. New expectations created by the increased information available through technological advances in communication will prompt increasing calls for open planning and public participation in decision making which will in turn lead to increased visibility of administrators and a greater measure of real accountability.

Policy Analysis for the Congress

Congress and the Executive Branch are the nation's most important consumers of policy analysis. In recent years the Congress has created a number of innovative policy analysis institutions and expanded others. As a result, and to the surprise of some observers, the rate of legislative use of policy analysis is beginning to approach that of the Executive Office of the President. The information and analysis capabilities available to the Congress are a development of fundamental importance to the conduct of the nation's business. Not only have they strengthened the analytical phases of oversight, investigations, and appropriations some major phases of congressional decision making but they also have enlarged the opportunities for public participation in decision making. The purposes of this presentation are to: 1. Examine the main policy analysis institutions available to the Congress; 2. Identify factors that affect the use of policy analysis by the Congress; and 3. Describe some current reform proposals aimed at strengthening the policy analysis capability of the Congress.

A conservation program for western Tasmania: Issues and prospects

A conservation program for Western Tasmania is out lined, involving a regional resource inventory, structure planning processes, a land-use classification system and public participation in decision -making. The program could be initiated by the local community on a "self-help" basis, but if the program is to have any sustained impact, then formal institutional arrangements will be required, involving State finance and assistance. In executing the conservation program, attempts should be made to incorporate aesthetic values and resource management principles into research and administrative processes.

Technology and the Governance of the Health Care Industry: The Dilemma of Reform

With increasing public expenditures for health care services, the accountability of the health care industry has become a major political issue. Concomitant issues concern the structures and processes through which the public as patients, customers, and citizens can directly influence the delivery of health care services. These issues, which are currently part of the national health policy debate, are indicative of the larger question concerning the relationship of the individual to his increasingly complex society. This paper presents three arguments. (1) The medical profession, through its control of technology and its monopolistic hold on legitimate claims of expertise, is the primary determiners of the way health services are structured and resources are allocated. (2) Domination of doctor-patient relationships, medical care delivery organizations, and the national health care policy process, enables physicians to remain unaccountable to democratic institutions and insulated from public participation in decision-making. (3) Lack of accountability, disproportionate professional power and the failure of governmental regulation raise questions about the role and impact of the medical profession as a quasi-institutional political actor in terms of (a) the return on the investment of +135 billion spent annually for medical care, (b) claims of expertise and self-regulation, and (c) overarching democratic values.

Revenue-sharing voucher program (RSVP)

There has been a significant shift in government towards decentralized power and responsibility as exemplified by the State and Local Assistance Act. The trend occurs at a time when society faces the double challenge of encouraging more and better informed, public participation in decision-making, and also improving the efficiency in governmental delivery of services. A proposal is made to use general revenue sharing moneys to meet this dual challenge through a revenue sharing voucher program (RSVP). The program entails turning back to citizens the incoming funds in the form of vouchers to be allocated by them to various local government agencies. The implications for the City of Seattle are discussed as an example of the operation and the tradeoffs involved.

The efficacy of electronic group meetings

Telephone conference calls could be used to extend participation in public decision-making. In order to clarify the involved problems and prospects we conducted 16 nine-member conference calls discussing and voting on a public issue. The discussions were recorded for analysis and a questionnaire was administered. The meetings worked well despite the isolation of the participants and the lack of visual contact. Access to the floor was easy, attention good, and participation was eager. The participants felt that the analysis of the topic had been effective. The chairman's guidance of the discussion was judged effective, and his actions legitimate. Additionally, the data suggest what we might call greater “intellectual elbow room”—less pressure to go along with the group opinion than in face-to-face meetings, and more ease in changing opinions and positions. The disagreements about the issue did not spill over into emotional hostility. The participants were quite pleased with the conduct and efficacy of the electronic meetings. These findings suggest that a mass participatory system, based upon such electronic meetings, can also be used to provide wider involvement in decision-making in our society.

Mass views of the future: A report from the Netherlands

In early 1970 a sample survey was carried out in the Netherlands to gauge public opinion concerning contemporary Dutch society and popular views about the likelihood and desirability of certain social changes over the next ten years. It was generally agreed that the Dutch enjoy a high standard of living with sufficient leisure time, but that they are oppressed not only by pollution, but also by having little say in running the country. More leisure is anticipated for the future, but also more pollution and no advances towards social equality nor towards public participation in decision-making.

Planning participation in public decision making

By posing as specialists in forecasting the future, by arguing the “inevitability of technological progress, and by hiding behind the skirts of public officials, planners in the public sector seek to exercise power without responsibility—power to determine the shape of life for the rest of us. The author attacks this myth of the all- seeing planner and in the process seeks to demolish some of the planners' unwarranted assumptions about “the year 2000”, the future of technology, the affluent society, the age of leisure, etc.