Public Participation In Governance

Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2006). Letters to the editor in local and regional newspapers: Giving voice to the reader. In B. Franklin (Ed.), Local journalism and local media: Making the local news (pp. 231-241). London: Routledge.

by Karin Wahl-Jorgensen

Proof only -- buy the book for the real thing

Participación Ciudadana y Espacio Popular Urbano en Medellín: entre ciudadanía insurgente y programas de planeación participativa y urbanismo social - Comuna 1 y Comuna 13. Una reflexión comparativa

by Omar Uran

Publicado en: e-Metropolis. Revista eletrônica de estudos urbanos e regionais.
http://www.emetropolis.net/download/edicoes/emetropolis_n08.pdf

English

Recent changes in public management and urban planning in Medellin (Colombia) are presented most of... more English

Recent changes in public management and urban planning in Medellin (Colombia) are presented most of the time as an undifferentiated whole, where the municipal government has taken the initiative and the local population goes behind him. The fact is that, despite the general dynamic of the city, each Comuna (political-administrative division of the city) has its own logic and way of engage the actions and municipal policies. This is the Comuna 1 case, where we can see, through municipal programs as the Participative Planning and Budgeting and Integrated Urban Projects (PUI), the expression of a kind of insurgent citizenship, who, by means of a dialectic of cooperation and conflict with the municipal government, has been able to build a Local Development Plan, which propose guidelines of urbanism and popular housing for the commune inhabitants. Slightly different is the Comuna 13 case, a complex scenario where despite of the social urbanism and having the biggest social investments in the municipality in the last 8 years, the levels of violence are been reluctant to fall, hiding in the background illegal and politicking practices fighting against the local state and grassroots organization for the territorial control. It shows how an urban project, social or participative, if does not politically recognize the local population, their differences and their spaces, will only be one more physical piece that does not develop the institutionality and democratic local culture.

Portugués:

Mudanças recentes na administração pública e planejamento urbano em Medellín (Colômbia) são frequentemente apresentadas como um todo indiferenciado, onde o governo municipal toma a iniciativa e a população local acompanha tudo passivamente. A questão fundamental é que, apesar da dinâmica geral da cidade de Medellín, cada comuna (divisão político-administrativa da cidade) tem sua própria lógica e seu modo de articular as ações e políticas municipais. Este é, por exemplo, o caso da Comuna 1, no qual podemos ver através dos espaços abertos por programas municipais, como o de Planejamento e Orçamento Participativo e o de Projetos Urbanos Integrais – PUI, a expressão de um tipo de cidadania insurgente que, a partir de uma dialética de cooperação e de conflito com o Governo Municipal, tem sido capaz de propor um Plano de Desenvolvimento Local que inclui linhas de desenvolvimento urbano e habitação para os moradores do município. Caso ligeiramente diferente é o da Comuna 13, onde apesar do urbanismo social e de registrar os maiores investimentos da Prefeitura de Medellín nos últimos oito anos, os níveis de violência parecem relutantes em baixar, escondendo no fundo práticas ilegais e vícios políticos que atuam contra as organizações comunitárias e o próprio Estado nas disputas pelo controle territorial. Assim, este artigo trata de destacar que um projeto urbano, mesmo que seja social e/ou participativo, precisa reconhecer politicamente a população local, suas diferenças e seus espaços, do contrário será apenas mais uma obra vazia que não chega a desenvolver a institucionalidade e menos, ainda, a cultura democrática local.

A diferença que a participação faz em iniciativas de Regeneração Urbana

by Sónia Alves

2008 - Sociedade e território, 41, pp. 8-18, Edições Afrontamento, Porto

Les SIG et la cartographie à l’ère du géoweb Vers une nouvelle génération de SIGparticipatifs

by Boris Mericskay

L'Espace géographique
2011/2 (Tome 40)

La convergence des systèmes d’information géographique et du Web se traduit aujourd’hui par l’émergence du géoweb... more La convergence des systèmes d’information géographique et du Web se traduit aujourd’hui par l’émergence du géoweb lequel permet au grand public de lire et d’écrire les cartes. Dans la continuité des recherches sur les systèmes d’information géographique participatifs, cette démocratisation de la cartographie en ligne pose de nombreuses questions quant aux usages des technologies d’information géographique dans les processus de participation publique (diffusion d’information, cartographie participative, formalisation des propositions citoyennes, etc.). C’est l’objectif de cet article, lequel s’attache à analyser les potentialités participatives du géoweb pour encourager la concertation territoriale en termes de techniques, pratiques et contenus.

PARTICIPATION IN FORESTRY: THE ROLE OF PATRON-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP IN ENSURING PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION IN THE SOCIAL FORESTRY POLICY OF BANGLADESH

by Saber Chowdhury

Asian Profile, Canada, 37(3), June, 2009

People’s participation in the Social Forestry (SF) policy in Bangladesh is believed to be an effective way of... more People’s participation in the Social Forestry (SF) policy in Bangladesh is believed to be an effective way of improving the condition of the forest sector by increasing access to services of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. But “patron-client relations” is a dominant phenomenon of the political order of the
peasant society of Bangladesh that largely influences SF farmers’ access in project design and management. SF is working under the weighty influence of local political institutions, especially the Union Parishad. But the malpractice of this institution often delimited the development orientation and “welfare” purpose of SF. Moreover, good relationship of Union Parishad Chairman with the local bureaucrats and NGOs help him to carry out his activities in the locality without any trouble. The Union Parishad Chairman have local power base and supporter group. To uphold his political position he is giving benefits to his supporters. For that cause when
he is going to select the members (who tend to be landless or disadvantaged class of the society) for the SF project, he is usually selecting those people with whom he has close personal relationship and from whom he will be benefited in future. The clients also are dependent on patrons for work as agricultural labourer and sharecropper in their (patron’s) field.

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND PARTICIPATION: THE CASE OF SOCIAL FORESTRY POLICY IN BANGLADESH

by Saber Chowdhury

Journal of Society and Development, Vol-1, December 2007 (Published in 2008)

People’s participation is involved in community development as a very important concept. Increasing people’s voice and... more People’s participation is involved in community development as a very important concept. Increasing people’s voice and influence in the Social Forestry policy in Bangladesh is believed to be an effective way of improving the condition of the forest sector as it ensures access to services to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. This article is based on a survey that carried out to measure the role of social capital in ensuring
people’s participation in the SF policy of Bangladesh. Here it is hypothesized that the more the dominance of personal trust than institutional trust the less will be the attainment of policy objective. In the study areas it is found that SF farmers distrust institutions like bureaucracy and the Union Parishad but they have trust to the
persons like the Union Parishad Chairman and the bureaucrats. This lack of trust to the institutions like Union Parishad and bureaucracy is one of the reasons to push the SF farmers to go for personal trust from which patron-client relationship was derived and it impeded the extent of people’s participation in the SF project.

Profundizar la democracia

by Xavier Ginés

Co-authored with Marina Requena i Mora; Manuel Rodríguez Victoriano; Rafael Xambó i Olmos.
X congreso de la FES

Systems Theory Approach to the Health Care Organization on National Level

by Ryszard Stocki

Bielecki & Stocki

National health care systems have been found ineffective in most countries. The subsystems of the health care systems... more National health care systems have been found ineffective in most countries. The subsystems of the health care systems are not autonomous and as such cannot be competitive in the market. A participative health care system with empowered patients as customers and hospitals as providers is proposed. The consequences for both further modeling and implementation of such systems are discussed.

Rural 'Participation' and its Framework in Tunisia

by Aude-Annabelle Canesse

Canesse A.-A., 2010, « Rural ‘participation’ and its framework in Tunisia », Journal of Economic and Social Research, vol. 12, n°1, pp. 63-88

Mots-clés: GDA - Groupement de développement agricole - Tunisie - Rural participation - Techniques d'encadrement -... more Mots-clés: GDA - Groupement de développement agricole - Tunisie - Rural participation - Techniques d'encadrement - Développement

Key words: ADG - Agricultural Development Group - Tunisia - Participation - Rural Techniques Framework - Development

Public Accountability in Urban Governance

by Christof Brandtner

Bachelor's thesis, presented in July, 2011. Supervised by Prof. Renate E. Meyer, Vienna University of Economics and Business.

The goal of this thesis is to give an answer to the question whether public participation is a promising approach to... more The goal of this thesis is to give an answer to the question whether public participation is a promising approach to resolving the legitimacy crisis of urban planners. Following the described line of argument, it firstly substantiates the postulated existence of a legitimacy crisis in city planning in view of the structural prerequisites and contextual changes. Secondly, it makes use of the concept of public accountability in order to analyze the planners’ deficits and identifies some leads for a solution to the problem. This part of the paper allowes for an understanding of the mechanisms that help to resolve the crisis. The third part is dedicated to one specific corresponding instrument, public participation, and its capacity to ease the tension between legitimacy and effectiveness. It concludes with a discussion of the limitations to the legitimacy enhancing power and how to counteract.

Local politicians' attitudes towards participatory initiatives: a Bulpittian perspective

by Dave Mckenna

Public Money & Management Volume 32, Issue 2, 2012

The mixed attitudes that councillors have towards participatory initiatives present a challenge for policy-makers and... more The mixed attitudes that councillors have towards participatory initiatives present a challenge for policy-makers and for the designers of these initiatives. Using a framework adapted from the ideas of Jim Bulpitt, this article provides an original analysis of existing research and concludes that only consultation and cogovernance initiatives are likely to find favour with local politicians. While concerned primarily with the UK, the analysis may be applicable to representative local governments in other countries.

Agenda Setting and Democratic Innovation: The Case of the Sustainable Communities Act (2007)

by Adrian Bua

This article suggests that a common feature among democratic innovations is the lack of an agenda setting function.... more This article suggests that a common feature among democratic innovations is the lack of an agenda setting function. First, it argues that a lack of control over their own agendas opens democratic innovations to manipulation by elites. Second, it argues that democratic innovations focused on setting the policy agendas of public authorities can serve to democratise the policy process by providing citizens with a tool to place issues on the public agenda. The article analyses a series of actual and potential institutional designs that divert from the dominant ‘direct-democratic’ nature of agenda setting innovations. It finishes with a discussion of the UK Sustainable Communities Act (2007), a process designed to allow communities to propose policy to government through their councils.

Between the People and the Constitution The Constitutional Role(s) of the Legislature

by Phil Dines

Aruna Sathanapally

This paper analyses the different senses in which the legislature’s relationship to the constitution can be... more This paper analyses the different senses in which the legislature’s relationship to the constitution can be understood. While broader recognition of the role that legislatures can play in relation to constitutions is valuable, there are other matters of concern relating to the realities of legislatures, in relation to representation, accountability, and deliberation, which merit greater consideration in constitutional literature.

What do civil society organisations expect from participation in science? Lessons from Germany and Spain on the issue of GMOs

by Vincenzo Pavone

Co-authored with Maria Paola Ferretti - University of Darmstadt

Recent debates in science and technology studies, as well as more practical approaches to science policy both at... more Recent debates in science and technology studies, as well as more practical approaches to science policy both at national and European level, have stressed the relevance of citizen participation in the field of science. This paper investigates what some of the key actors in this debate, civil society organisations, expect from participation. The paper presents two case studies of civil society participation in the field of novel biotechnologies in Germany and in Spain. Despite the differences between the experiences of participation in these two countries, our study shows that current institutional approaches, which are inspired by the 'democratisation of expertise' perspective and set up essentially at the 'downstream' level, seem less promising than 'upstream' models of participation, which, in contrast, appear more meaningful from a 'co-production of science' framing.

Social license to operate

by Robert Boutilier

2010. with Thomson, I. in P. Darling (ed.), SME Mining Engineering Handbook, Littleton, Colorado: Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration

This chapter theorizes the hitherto informal concept of the social license to operate.Using insights from interviews... more This chapter theorizes the hitherto informal concept of the social license to operate.Using insights from interviews with hundreds of community members conducted during dozens of projects on four continents, the chapter proposes a four tiered model of the social license: withholding, accepting, approving, identifying. The dynamics that change the level of social license enjoyed by a project are discussed along with strategies for assessing and maintaining a solid social license. Techniques for assessing the ability of a community to issue a durable and valid social license are also discussed, along with strategies for improving that ability. (Spanish version can be downloaded here with permission from the Society for Mining Metallurgy & Exploration smenet.org)

PUBLIC GOVERNANCE: RESEARCH AND OPERATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF A

by Denita Cepiku

Public Participation Best Practices: An Assessment of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

DeLeon, Valentin N., "Public Participation Best Practices: An Assessment of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs" (2011). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 378.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/378

The purpose of this research is to establish a practical ideal type public participation model and gauge public... more The purpose of this research is to establish a practical ideal type public participation model and gauge public participation policies at the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). TDHCA is a good case study because the department is responsible for funding most affordable housing developments in the state. As the state’s lead agency tasked with funding rehabilitation and construction of new affordable housing, it is imperative that department administrators collaborate with stakeholders, legislators, and neighborhood residents. An effective public participation policy must be in place to ensure underrepresented and vulnerable Texans have the opportunity to participate in policy formation. The available literature was reviewed to develop best practice methods and the best practice policy was compared with participation policies at TDHCA.

Focused interviews with TDHCA staff were conducted to gather data about specific public participation policies at the department. The interview results, when compared to the ideal model, identified several areas where TDHCA policy could be improved. TDHCA is not taking advantage of new media resources to connect with citizens. Additionally, TDHCA should focus on staff development to improve written and oral communication with the public.

When Foundations Matter: Deficits of Smismans’ Participatory Myth and Responses

by Florent LIETO

The following paper aims to evaluate the persuasiveness of Stijn Smismans’ argument within his article ‘New Modes of... more The following paper aims to evaluate the persuasiveness of Stijn Smismans’ argument within his article ‘New Modes of Governance and the Participatory Myth’. The author implements the intense academic debate on the democratic deficit of the European Union (EU) by destabilizing the normative claim that new governance suggests clear improvements in terms of civil society and stakeholders’ participation within policy- making. This paper argues that Smismans develops a weak case in regards with European occupational health and safety policy (OH&S). My argument is twofold. (1) The exposed and discussed concepts rely on a set of parsimonies that bring its lot of vagueness. ‘New Governance’ and ‘civil society/stakeholder participation’ are presented as taken-for-granted and fail to approach the issue with the necessary reflexivity. (2) The author seeks to demonstrate how new governance doesn’t improve better participatory governance but not why; and is very representative of the unfortunately locked EU conceptualization’s opposition between the predominant accounts that are the liberal and social democratic approaches. Engaging with critical theory allows reinforcing Smismans’ argument by refusing the pitfalls of mainstream accounts while understanding why civil society and stakeholders’ participation remains a myth at the European level.
Governance – legitimacy – civil society – participation – critical theory

The Cascade County, Montana, Community Youth Justice Council Program: A New Citizenship Model

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Raffray, Lane A., "The Cascade County, Montana, Community Youth Justice Council Program: A New Citizenship Model" (1997). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 85.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/85

An Assessment of Public Participation in the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Barron, Wendy, "An Assessment of Public Participation in the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group" (2006). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 162.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/162

The purpose of this research is fourfold: (1) to establish an ideal system to involve citizens in water resources... more The purpose of this research is fourfold: (1) to establish an ideal system to involve citizens in water resources planning, (2) to use the model system to assess the citizen participation program in the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group, (3) to offer suggestions for improvements to the process, and (4) to make suggestions for future research that could increase the effectiveness of citizen participation in the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group and in the Regional Water Planning process as a whole. This research is a case study that uses the methods of document analysis and focused interviews to assess public participation in the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group against the ideal model. The results indicate that there are some gaps in the public participation efforts of the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group when compared to the ideal model. With modifications, however, a system can be designed that is both measurable and, hopefully, successful