public deliberation & participation: concepts, values, & process design tina nabatchi, ph.d....
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Public Public Deliberation & Deliberation & Participation:Participation:
Concepts, Values, & Concepts, Values, & Process DesignProcess Design
Tina Nabatchi, Ph.D.Public Administration Department
[email protected] April 13, 2011
“…the most important point of excellence which any form of government can possess is to
promote the virtue and intelligence of the people themselves.”
- John Stuart Mill, On Representative Government
Civic EngagementCivic EngagementCivic Engagement involves virtually any
activities that concern public issues.
Civic Engagement can happen in many places:◦ Civil Society◦ Electoral Arenas◦ Administrative Arenas
Civic Engagement can take many forms:◦ Adversarial → Collaborative → Consensus
◦ One-Way → Two-Way → Deliberative Communication
◦ Information Exchange → Democratic Decisionmaking
Public/Citizen ParticipationPublic/Citizen ParticipationPublic Participation: the processes by which
public concerns, needs, and values are incorporated into governmental decisions
◦Indirect Participation: citizens select a representative to make decisions for them
Examples: Voting and Interest group activities
◦Direct Participation: citizens are personally involved and actively engaged in decision making
Examples: Advisory committees and Participatory decision making
Deliberative ParticipationDeliberative Participation
Public Deliberation: participatory models designed to help citizens form their own political voice through the act of reasoned discussion
Deliberative Democracy: Public decisions should be made through reasoned discussion and collective judgment of free and equal citizens ◦ Requires reason-giving ◦ Must take place in public and be accessible to
all/some citizens affected by decisions ◦ Seeks to produce a decision that is binding for
some period of time◦ Is dynamic and keeps open the option for
continuing dialogue
Deliberative Democracy Deliberative Democracy ProcessesProcesses
Similarities Focus on action Appeal to values Absence of pre-existing
commitments Mutuality of focus Free exchange of
knowledge and information
Occurs within small groups (though many involve thousands of people)
Differences
Who participates
How information is exchanged
How decisions are made
How deliberation is linked to policy or public action
Examples AmericaSpeaks 21st Century Town Meeting ®
National Issues Forum (NIF) Public (or Civic) Journalism
Deliberative Polling®
Study Circles
Core Values for Public Core Values for Public ParticipationParticipation The public should have a say in decisions that affect
their lives. Participation should include the promise that the
public's contribution will influence the decision. How the public’s input will affect (or has affected) the decision should be communicated.
The participation process should focus on and communicate the interests and needs of participants.
The participation process should seek out and facilitate the involvement of those who are potentially affected by a decision.
The participation process should provide participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way.
Adapted from the International Association for Public Participation (www.IAP2.org)
Advocates and Critics’ Views Advocates and Critics’ Views
The arguments for participation◦ Intrinsic value of participation◦ Instrumental value of participation
Citizens Communities Policy and Governance
The arguments against participation◦ Transaction costs◦ Constraints imposed on officials◦ Negative impacts on citizens and groups◦ Risky decision making
Why participation? Why participation? Four Broad Goals1. Exploration: encouraging people to learn more
about themselves, their community, or an issue, and possibly discover innovative solutions
2. Conflict Transformation: resolving conflicts, fostering personal healing and growth, and improving relations among groups.
3. Collaborative Action: empowering people to solve complicated problems and take responsibility for the solution(s).
4. Decision Making: improving public knowledge on issues and influencing public decisions and policies
Spectrum of Public Spectrum of Public ParticipationParticipation
Inform Consult Involve Collaborate
Empower
Increasing Level of Shared Decision Authority
• Fact Sheets • Web Sites• Open Houses • Public
Comment• Focus Groups• Surveys• Public Meetings
• Workshops• Deliberative Polling • Citizen Advisory
Committees• Consensus-Building• Participatory Decision Making
• Delegated Decision Making • Deliberative Democracy
Adapted from the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2)
One-Way Communication
Deliberative Communication
Two-Way Communication
Engagement Processes
Participation Processes
Democratic Processes
Reciprocity: Actions Required Reciprocity: Actions Required of Agencies and Citizensof Agencies and Citizens
Inform Consult Involve Collaborate
Empower
InquirePropose/ Express Opinions
Discuss/ Delibera
te
Take Part on
Continuing Basis
Assume Respon-sibility
What Level of Participation is What Level of Participation is Right?Right?It depends.
◦How complex is the issue?
◦What kind of participation is required for the decision to have legitimacy?
◦How quickly does a decision need to be reached?
◦What is the mandate?
◦What are the political realities?
◦What is the budget?
Why Agencies Retain (at least Why Agencies Retain (at least some) Decision-Making some) Decision-Making AuthorityAuthorityAgencies are constrained by mandates.Agencies must operate within the limits of
the law.Agencies must meet contractual obligations.Agencies must pay the costs of the project.Agencies must balance competing needs
and interests.Agencies must retain accountability
Agencies MUST promote the Public Interest
Planning for ParticipationPlanning for ParticipationDecision Analysis• Clarify the decision being made.• Decide whether and why public participation is needed.• Specify the planning or decision making steps and schedule.
Process Planning• Specify what needs to be accomplished with the public at each step
of the decision making process.• Identify the internal and external stakeholders.• Identify techniques to use at each stage of the process.• Link the techniques in an integrated plan.
Implementation Planning• Plan the implementation of individual public participation activities.
Evaluation Planning• Plan the evaluation of multiple aspects of the all public
participation activities.
Design Choices Design Choices (Adapted from Fung (Adapted from Fung 2003)2003)1. Why do your want/need public
participation? What do you hope to learn or accomplish?
Are you seeking to explore an issue? Address a conflict? Develop collaborative action?
Make a decision? – Why is public input necessary for this decision?
2. Subject and Scope of Participation What issue will citizens consider? What will be the extent of their consideration?
Do citizens have a comparative advantage over politicians, administrators, organized interests, etc.?
Do you need information about public preferences and values?
Do you want a citizen assessment of policy impacts? Do you want citizens to monitor accountability?
Design ChoicesDesign Choices3. The Stakes
Why will citizens consider the issue? Cold issue: low stakes, dispassionate, no fixed
positions Hot issue: high stakes, passionate, fixed positions
4. Level of Shared Decision Authority How will results of participation influence decision? Where on the spectrum will your public
participation forum fall? Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate, Empower
How will participants be informed about influence?
5. Type of Participatory Mechanism Face-to-Face: large group meetings or small table
discussions? On-line: blogs, wikis, social media tools
Design ChoicesDesign Choices6. Participant Selection
Stakeholder Participation: open only to those who have an interest because of their job or involvement in a formal group or organization
Public Participation: open to all residents
7. Participant Recruitment Voluntary Self-Selection Targeted Demographic Recruitment Structural Incentives
Design ChoicesDesign Choices8. Communication Mode
One-way communication (to or from agency?) Two-way communication Deliberative communication Large group, small group, or online?
Consider issues of facilitation Consider how all participants will have a voice Consider issues of information aggregation/analysis
9. Informed Participation What information do people need to participate in an
effective way? All informational materials (e.g., expert panels,
presentations, guidebooks, issue books) MUST be neutral, objective, and balanced.
Design Choices Design Choices (Adapted from (Adapted from Fung 2003)Fung 2003)
10. Recurrence and Iteration One-time event? Long-term, ongoing endeavor?
11. Monitoring Is there long-term monitoring of results, actions,
or implementation? Will monitoring yield public learning,
accountability, transparency?
12. Evaluation How will you conduct a process evaluation? How will you conduct an impact evaluation? Who is the audience for your evaluation efforts? How will you share the results of your evaluations?
Design IssuesDesign IssuesDecisions about design choices
should be made:◦In an integrative fashion◦In consideration of any mandates,
laws, rules, regulations, etc.◦In consideration of system context
and conditions (i.e., budget, human and other resources, political realities, logistical constraints, etc.)
Additional ResourcesAdditional Resources
Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC): http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/
Global Voices: http://www.globalvoices.org/
LogoLink: http://www.logolink.org
International Association for Public Participation (IAP2): http://www.iap2.org/
National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD): http://www.thataway.org/