Public Deliberation &
Participation:
Concepts,Values, & Process
Design
Tina Nabatchi, Ph.D.
Public Administration Department
tnabatch@syr.edu
April 13, 2011
“…the most important point of
excellence which any form of
government can possess is to
promote the virtue and
intelligence of the people
themselves.”
- John Stuart Mill,
On Representative Government
Civic Engagement

Civic Engagement involves virtually any activities that
concern public issues.

Civic Engagement can happen in many places:
◦ Civil Society
◦ Electoral Arenas
◦ Administrative Arenas

Civic Engagement can take many forms:
◦ Adversarial → Collaborative → Consensus
◦ One-Way → Two-Way → Deliberative Communication
◦ Information Exchange → Democratic Decisionmaking
Public/Citizen Participation

Public Participation: the processes by which public
concerns, needs, and values are incorporated into
governmental decisions
◦ Indirect Participation: citizens select a
representative to make decisions for them
 Examples:Voting and Interest group activities
◦ Direct Participation: citizens are personally
involved and actively engaged in decision making
 Examples: Advisory committees and Participatory
decision making
Deliberative Participation

Public Deliberation: participatory models designed to
help citizens form their own political voice through
the act of reasoned discussion

Deliberative Democracy: Public decisions should be
made through reasoned discussion and collective
judgment of free and equal citizens
◦ Requires reason-giving
◦ Must take place in public and be accessible to all/some
citizens affected by decisions
◦ Seeks to produce a decision that is binding for some
period of time
◦ Is dynamic and keeps open the option for continuing
dialogue
Deliberative Democracy Processes
Similarities






Focus on action
Appeal to values
Absence of pre-existing
commitments
Mutuality of focus
Free exchange of knowledge
and information
Occurs within small groups
(though many involve
thousands of people)
Differences

Who participates

How information is
exchanged

How decisions are made

How deliberation is linked to
policy or public action
Examples

AmericaSpeaks 21st Century Town Meeting ®
 National Issues Forum (NIF)

Public (or Civic) Journalism

Deliberative Polling®

Study Circles
Core Values for Public Participation






The public should have a say in decisions that affect their lives.
Participation should include the promise that the public's
contribution will influence the decision. How the public’s
input will affect (or has affected) the decision should be
communicated.
The participation process should focus on and communicate the
interests and needs of participants.
The participation process should seek out and facilitate the
involvement of those who are potentially affected by a
decision.
The participation process should provide participants with the
information they need to participate in a meaningful way.
Adapted from the International Association for Public Participation (www.IAP2.org)
Advocates and Critics’ Views

The arguments for participation
◦ Intrinsic value of participation
◦ Instrumental value of participation
 Citizens
 Communities
 Policy and Governance

The arguments against participation
◦
◦
◦
◦
Transaction costs
Constraints imposed on officials
Negative impacts on citizens and groups
Risky decision making
Why participation?
Four Broad Goals
1. Exploration: encouraging people to learn more
about themselves, their community, or an issue,
and possibly discover innovative solutions

2.
Conflict Transformation: resolving conflicts, fostering
personal healing and growth, and improving
relations among groups.
3.
Collaborative Action: empowering people to solve
complicated problems and take responsibility for
the solution(s).
4.
Decision Making: improving public knowledge on
issues and influencing public decisions and
policies
Spectrum of Public Participation
Adapted from the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2)
Increasing Level of Shared Decision Authority
Inform
Consult
• Fact Sheets
• Web Sites
• Open Houses
• Workshops
• Deliberative Polling
• Public Comment
• Focus Groups
• Surveys
• Public Meetings
Engagement
Processes
Collaborate
Involve
• Citizen Advisory
Committees
• Consensus-Building
• Participatory
Decision Making
Empower
• Delegated
Decision Making
• Deliberative
Democracy
Participation Processes
Democratic Processes
One-Way
Communication
Two-Way Communication
Deliberative Communication
Reciprocity: Actions Required of
Agencies and Citizens
Actions by Agencies/Organizations
Inform
Consult
Involve
Collaborate
Empower
Inquire
Propose/
Express
Opinions
Discuss/
Deliberate
Take Part on
Continuing
Basis
Assume
Responsibility
Actions by Citizens
What Level of Participation is Right?

It depends.
◦ How complex is the issue?
◦ What kind of participation is required for the
decision to have legitimacy?
◦ How quickly does a decision need to be
reached?
◦ What is the mandate?
◦ What are the political realities?
◦ What is the budget?
Why Agencies Retain (at least some)
Decision-Making Authority

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
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Agencies are constrained by mandates.
Agencies must operate within the limits of the
law.
Agencies must meet contractual obligations.
Agencies must pay the costs of the project.
Agencies must balance competing needs and
interests.
Agencies must retain accountability
Agencies MUST promote
the Public Interest
Planning for Participation
Decision Analysis
• Clarify the decision being made.
• Decide whether and why public participation is needed.
• Specify the planning or decision making steps and schedule.
Process Planning
• Specify what needs to be accomplished with the public at each step
of the decision making process.
• Identify the internal and external stakeholders.
• Identify techniques to use at each stage of the process.
• Link the techniques in an integrated plan.
Implementation Planning
• Plan the implementation of individual public participation activities.
Evaluation Planning
• Plan the evaluation of multiple aspects of the all public
participation activities.
Design Choices (Adapted from Fung 2003)
Why do your want/need public participation?
What do you hope to learn or accomplish?
1.


Are you seeking to explore an issue? Address a conflict?
Develop collaborative action?
Make a decision? – Why is public input necessary for this
decision?
Subject and Scope of Participation
2.


What issue will citizens consider?
What will be the extent of their consideration?
 Do citizens have a comparative advantage over politicians,
administrators, organized interests, etc.?
 Do you need information about public preferences and
values?
 Do you want a citizen assessment of policy impacts?
 Do you want citizens to monitor accountability?
Design Choices
3.
The Stakes

Why will citizens consider the issue?
 Cold issue: low stakes, dispassionate, no fixed positions
 Hot issue: high stakes, passionate, fixed positions
4.
Level of Shared Decision Authority


How will results of participation influence decision?
Where on the spectrum will your public participation
forum fall?
 Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate, Empower

5.
How will participants be informed about influence?
Type of Participatory Mechanism


Face-to-Face: large group meetings or small table
discussions?
On-line: blogs, wikis, social media tools
Design Choices
Participant Selection
6.


Stakeholder Participation: open only to those who have
an interest because of their job or involvement in a
formal group or organization
Public Participation: open to all residents
Participant Recruitment
7.



Voluntary Self-Selection
Targeted Demographic Recruitment
Structural Incentives
Design Choices
Communication Mode
8.




One-way communication (to or from agency?)
Two-way communication
Deliberative communication
Large group, small group, or online?



Consider issues of facilitation
Consider how all participants will have a voice
Consider issues of information aggregation/analysis
Informed Participation
9.


What information do people need to participate in an
effective way?
All informational materials (e.g., expert panels, presentations,
guidebooks, issue books) MUST be neutral, objective, and
balanced.
Design Choices (Adapted from Fung 2003)
Recurrence and Iteration
10.


One-time event?
Long-term, ongoing endeavor?
Monitoring
11.


Is there long-term monitoring of results, actions, or
implementation?
Will monitoring yield public learning, accountability,
transparency?
Evaluation
12.

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How will you conduct a process evaluation?
How will you conduct an impact evaluation?
Who is the audience for your evaluation efforts?
How will you share the results of your evaluations?
Design Issues

Decisions about design choices should be
made:
◦ In an integrative fashion
◦ In consideration of any mandates, laws, rules,
regulations, etc.
◦ In consideration of system context and
conditions (i.e., budget, human and other
resources, political realities, logistical
constraints, etc.)
Additional Resources

Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC):
http://www.deliberative-democracy.net/

Global Voices: http://www.globalvoices.org/

LogoLink: http://www.logolink.org

International Association for Public Participation
(IAP2): http://www.iap2.org/

National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation
(NCDD): http://www.thataway.org/