Public participation and the democratic renewal agenda: Prioritisation or marginalisation?

Transformational Government? The role of information technology in delivering citizen-centric local public services

“…However, this role is often little more than consultation and even then it can be 'too little and too late'. Participation is a key feature that runs through much of UK local government policy, with initiatives ranging from 'tokenism, through information provision and consultation, to shared or delegated power over certain decisions' (Leach & Wingfield, 1999). Lowndes and Sullivan (2004) identify six key purposes of citizen participation with government policy, each of which offers a different level of participation:…”

Evaluating local government equalities work: The case of sexualities initiatives in the UK

“…It will draw predominantly on the work of Boyne (2002), who critiques the academic and practitioner literature in this field, arguing that established models, including the 'inputs-outputs-outcomes' models pay insufficient attention to service responsiveness to the public and to democracy. These issues are particularly important, given the government's programme for democratic renewal, as discussed by Leach and Wingfield (1999). As Hambleton (2000: 931) says, 'rising public expectations and strong pressures from local communities for a greater say in decision-making are putting new demands on local authorities'.…”

Modernisation, Democratisation and Community Governance

“…However, some commentators remain unconvinced about the capacity of reforming decision-making structures without a changed emphasis on citizen empowerment (Gray and Jenkins, 2000;Leach and Wingfield, 2000).…”