How much participation makes a participatory process legitimate? Observations from participants in forestry policy-making and nuclear weapons complex management
- Social and Environmental Research Inst., Leverett, MA (United States)
Public participation has received increasing attention as a means for improving research, policy-making, and decision-making in a variety of contexts. Regulators have experimented with a variety of participatory approaches to improve the legitimacy of outcomes in the eyes of diverse publics. In this paper the authors will explore how participants (as opposed to planners) perceived legitimacy of both processes and outcomes in planning processes. Data from two case studies will be presented: (1) a forestry planning process in the northeastern US and (2) environmental health, waste management, and clean-up activities in the US nuclear weapons complex. The data reveal that judgments about the appropriateness of particular forms of participation and about the quality of participation can be a critical factor in perceived legitimacy of processes and outcomes, and that judgments of appropriateness and quality are grounded in the experiences of individual participants. In addition, linkages between judgments about the adequacy of participation and legitimacy can be mediated by historical interactions and judgments of trust. Implications for the design of participatory processes will be discussed.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 500838
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9705100--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Public participation in transportation planning
Public participation: Picking the players