Scripting Deliberative Policy-Making: Dramaturgic Policy Analysis and Engagement Know-How

Abstract

Public engagers are officials tasked with facilitating collaborative performances in the theatres of deliberation that increasingly populate local governance. In Scotland, they work to involve citizens, communities and organisations in deliberative policy-making. Drawing on 2 years of ethnographic fieldwork, this paper shows how these policy workers deploy their own field of specialist knowledge during the scripting of participatory processes. The analysis eschews conventional notions of 'scripted participation' as tokenistic or manipulative, thus seeking a more sophisticated understanding of the know-how that animates engagement practice. The findings reveal the micro-politics of official participation processes through the 'behind-thescenes' work of engagement practitioners.

The Professionalization of Public Participation

“…Consequently, deliberative scholarship must pay attention to the backstage work of PPPs, which sustains the frontstage of public forums (see Escobar, 2015). The chapter has offered examples of how participatory and deliberative democracy can be jeopardized by electoral and partisan dynamics, and subservient to representative and bureaucratic institutions.…”

“…Tears, uncertainty and frantic office days ensued. Suddenly, meticulously "scripted" processes (see Escobar, 2015), carefully facilitated forums, and painstakingly built relational capital were in jeopardy. Some officials ignored phone calls, and PPPs no longer had full access to the forums' backstages that had been their turf.…”

“…This infuriated the PPPs: "they are asking us to waste our time in a process that may go nowhere"; "this forum is now a complete farce". Unable to script, without backstage leeway, frontstage performances risked becoming farces (Escobar, 2015 Indeed, participatory processes that had engaged hundreds of citizens and stakeholders, but were connected to outgoing councillors, became "under review". As the outgoing Cabinet had stopped forums in 2007, PPPs expected a repeat of this retaliatory approach.…”

Meeting, talk and text: policy and politics in practice

“…The meeting is a basic element of the work of the elected representative, in the constituency (Fenno 1977, Hofstetter andStokoe 2015) and the committee (Lutzker 1969) as well as the debating chamber, in local (Wiseman 1967, Spencer 1971 as well as national government and international organizations (Alger 1966, Riles 2001). The same holds for civil servants and public officials (Kriesberg and Guetzkow 1950), whether they are working in support of committees (Winzen 2011) or liaising with counterparts (Barnett 1997, Geuijen, t'Hart andYesilkagit 2007), engaging with experts (Maybin 2014(Maybin , 2016 or with publics (Escobar 2015). Meetings, likewise, are as central to political activity outside the formal institutions of democratic government as inside them.…”

Political and ethical aspects in the ethnography of policy translation: Research experiences from Turkey and China

“…Stubbs (2014) building on Marcus (1998) called for a multi-sited political ethnography of policy translation, whereas Schatz (2009), in his edited volume, provided a general discussion of ethnographies to study politics. In addition, a number of ethnographic studies of politics have recently appeared in public administration and policy studies journals (Escobar, 2014;Maybin, 2014;van Hulst et al, 2012).…”