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The Quality of Stakeholder-Based Decisions: Lessons from the Case Study Record

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  • Beierle, Thomas C.

Abstract

The increased use of stakeholder processes in environmental decision-making has raised concerns that the inherently "political" nature of such processes may sacrifice substantive quality for political expediency. In particular, there is concern that good science will not be used adequately in stakeholder processes nor be reflected in their decision outcomes. This paper looks to the case study record to examine the quality of the outcomes of stakeholder efforts and the scientific and technical resources stakeholders use. The data for the analysis come from a "case survey," in which researchers coded information on over 100 attributes of 239 published case studies of stakeholder involvement in environmental decision-making. These cases reflect a diversity of planning, management, and implementation activities carried out by environmental and natural resource agencies at many levels of government. Overall, the case study record suggests that there should be little concern that stakeholder processes are resulting in low quality decisions. The majority of cases contained evidence of stakeholders improving decisions over the status quo; adding new information, ideas, and analysis; and having adequate access to technical and scientific resources. Processes that stressed consensus scored higher on substantive quality measures than those that did not. Indeed, the data suggested interesting relationships between the more "political" aspects of stakeholder decision-making, such as consensus building, and the quality of decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Beierle, Thomas C., 2000. "The Quality of Stakeholder-Based Decisions: Lessons from the Case Study Record," Discussion Papers 10686, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:rffdps:10686
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.10686
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thomas C. Beierle & David M. Konisky, 2000. "Values, conflict, and trust in participatory environmental planning," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 587-602.
    2. Wernstedt, Kris & Hersh, Robert, 1997. "Land Use and Remedy Selection: Experience from the Field - The Fort Ord Site," Discussion Papers 10847, Resources for the Future.
    3. Mazurek, Janice V. & Hersh, Robert, 1997. "Land Use and Remedy Selection: Experience from the Field - The Abex Site," Discussion Papers 10468, Resources for the Future.
    4. Wernstedt, Kris & Hersh, Robert, 1997. "Land Use and Remedy Selection: Experience from the Field — The Fort Ord Site," RFF Working Paper Series dp-97-28, Resources for the Future.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jessica Reisert & Clare M. Ryan & Johann Köppel, 2015. "Stakeholder Participation in Collaborative Watershed Planning in Washington State," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(03), pages 1-23.
    2. Juliette Mcdonald & Martin Hession & Anna Rickard & Mark Nieuwenhuijsen & Michaela Kendall, 2002. "Air Quality Management in UK Local Authorities: Public Understanding and Participation," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 571-590.
    3. Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin & Ingrid Peignier & Bernard Sinclair-Desgagné, 2003. "Communication des risques industriels au public - Les expériences aux États-Unis et en France," CIRANO Project Reports 2003rp-02, CIRANO.
    4. Sami Mahroum & Simon Bell & Yasser Al-Saleh & Nasser Yassin, 2016. "Towards an Effective Multi-Stakeholder Consultation Process: Applying the Imagine Method in Context of Abu Dhabi’s Education Policy," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 335-353, August.
    5. James Agbodzakey, 2012. "Collaborative Governance of HIV Health Services Planning Councils in Broward and Palm Beach Counties of South Florida," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 107-126, June.
    6. James Korku Agbodzakey, 2017. "Ryan White CARE Act and Collaborative Governance Re-Examined: the South Florida Experience," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 293-314, June.
    7. Christopher Bruce & Jeremy Clark, 2015. "Collaborative environmental negotiation with private non-verifiable information: an experimental test," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 82-104, March.
    8. Timothy C. Earle & Michael Siegrist, 2008. "On the Relation Between Trust and Fairness in Environmental Risk Management," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1395-1414, October.

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