The promise for democratic deepening: the effects of participatory processes in the interaction between civil society and local governments

Bhérer, Laurence; Fernández-Martínez, José Luis; Espín, Patricia García; Sánchez, Manuel Jiménez

doi:10.1080/17448689.2016.1215957

Cited by 25 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Their concern was found to be ticking the box to ensure whether adequate number of women or other socially marginalised individuals are present in the forum. If we compare this rather frustrating impression with other informal participatory forums which are mostly organised by the NGOs or activist CSOs, we can see that citizen participants are given adequate scale of power to make rules on, for example, who should be selected as participant and how deliberation should happen within the forum (Bherer, Fernández-Martínez, García Espín, & Jiménez Sánchez, 2016;Keane, 2013).…”

Section: Informal Forums and Their Roles In Participatory Policymakinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Informal Forums Matter? Lessons from Nepal’s Local Policymaking

Bhusal

2019

The International Journal of Community and Social Development

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This research empirically explores whether and how informal forums facilitate the participation of ordinary people in the local policymaking process. Using qualitative data generated from 2014 to 2016 in the Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City in western Nepal, it argues that informal forums are the most conducive participatory platforms for ordinary people and that these forums can bring positive influences on the formal processes of policymaking. Examined through the analytical framework of society-driven participatory institutions, findings of this research suggest that informal forums, if designed properly, can contribute to securing democratic rights of ordinary people by allowing them to participate to raise and deliberate their issues in the local policymaking process. In addition to broadening the existing knowledge about the role of informal forums in local governance, findings of this research offer new insights for local authorities who are passionate about participatory local policymaking.

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Section: Informal Forums and Their Roles In Participatory Policymakinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Informal Forums Matter? Lessons from Nepal’s Local Policymaking

Bhusal

2019

The International Journal of Community and Social Development

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“…A great number of studies, mainly rooted in the literature on deliberative democracy and governance, have explored the ability of participatory mechanisms to democratize public policies (Fung, 2006). Despite a better method for tracing citizens' proposals (Font, Smith, Galais, & Alarcón, 2018), these studies all tend to conclude that the influence of participatory mechanisms on public policies is limited and depends, among other factors, on the local contexts of implementation and on the design of the procedures (Bherer, Fernández-Martínez, Garcia Espin, & Jimenez Sanchez, 2016;Font & Galais, 2011;Michels, 2012;Michels et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The participatory turn in local policies: A product of the market

Mazeaud

Nonjon

2019

Governance

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This article examines the relationship between local participatory policies and their market in France. The study stems from long‐term field research drawing on a variety of materials: qualitative interviews with citizen participation professionals (consultants or civil servants), questionnaires, and an analysis of public procurement. This study depicts the way both the industry and the policies of citizen participation are structured in France. It also explores how French participatory policies are coproduced through mechanisms of competition–collusion between clients (mainly local public authorities) and providers (consultants). Finally, the study questions the effects of this market on local policies, showing that the market cannot be interpreted as an unequivocal sign of a decline in actors along with political stakes in public policies.

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“…It stands to reason that between Australia's multitude of public institutions -over 500 local governments as well as the departments and agencies of its federal government and those of its six states and two mainland territories -that there are a multitude of community consultation and engagement processes being undertaken. The use of these processes by public institutions for decision-making has become commonplace in recent years (Baiocchi and Ganuza, 2017;Bua and Escobar, 2018;Fung, 2015), not only in Australia (Grant and Drew 2017), but internationally (Baiocchi and Ganuza, 2017;Bherer et al, 2016;Lowndes et al, 2001;Michels and De Graaf, 2010;Nabatchi and Amsler, 2014;Nabatchi and Leighninger, 2015;Pateman, 2012;Wampler, 2010;Wang, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing divided loyalties in the emerging profession of community engagement

Christensen

2019

Journal of Sociology

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Community engagement practitioners design, deliver, report and evaluate processes which invite the community to influence decision-making. It is a unique role, with practitioners serving two masters: the organisations that employ or contract them and the communities whose views they are engaged to elicit. In balancing these interests, practitioners experience a number of tensions in their work, and employ a variety of methods to address them. This paper draws on a series of 20 semi-structured interviews with senior practitioners, in an attempt to answer these questions and finds that a multiplicity of tensions exist which relate to the need to serve both the community and the engagement sponsor, their position in either the public sector or as a private consultants to the public sector and the constraints and behaviours of public institutions. They way in which they manage these is relatively ad-hoc, although is often informed by principals and position.

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The promise for democratic deepening: the effects of participatory processes in the interaction between civil society and local governments

Cited by 25 publications

References 23 publications

Do Informal Forums Matter? Lessons from Nepal’s Local Policymaking

Do Informal Forums Matter? Lessons from Nepal’s Local Policymaking

The participatory turn in local policies: A product of the market

Managing divided loyalties in the emerging profession of community engagement

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