Public Administration Department 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 5

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 Exploration: encouraging people to learn more about themselves, their community, or an issue, and possibly discover innovative solutions Conflict Transformation: resolving conflicts, fostering personal healing and growth, and improving relations among groups. Collaborative Action: empowering people to solve complicated problems and take responsibility for the solution(s). 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 Involve Collaborate Empower Fact Sheets Web Sites Open Houses Workshops Deliberative Polling Delegated Decision Making Deliberative Democracy Public Comment Focus Groups Surveys Public Meetings Citizen Advisory Committees Consensus-Building Participatory Decision Making Engagement Processes 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 Respon-sibility 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 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? 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 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 The Stakes Level of Shared Decision Authority Why will citizens consider the issue? Cold issue: low stakes, dispassionate, no fixed positions Hot issue: high stakes, passionate, fixed positions 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 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 Participant Recruitment 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 Voluntary Self-Selection Targeted Demographic Recruitment Structural Incentives 17

Design Choices Communication Mode Informed Participation 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 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 One-time event? Long-term, ongoing endeavor? Monitoring Is there long-term monitoring of results, actions, or implementation? Will monitoring yield public learning, accountability, transparency? Evaluation 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/