Public Participation - Potential and Pitfalls

Over the past ten years there has been an increased awareness of the importance of stakeholder involvement and public participation in policy making. However, despite a general acceptance that stakeholder participation is important within decision-making, it is less clear as to how that participation should be undertaken, who should be involved, and how the various methods for participation should be evaluated. By first reflecting on some of the philosophical assumptions behind the view that stakeholder engagement is important, this paper presents a number of possible evaluation criteria for such involvement. It suggests that the appraisal of processes needs to include consideration of the legitimacy of the procedure, in addition to the more common efficiency evaluation of procedures and outcomes. Using experience from case studies, these criteria are then used to highlight the main promises and pitfalls of the various participation procedures.