Abstract
Public participation is ubiquitous in many contemporary democratic societies – used for many purposes, and in many contexts, with particular and growing relevance for policy-making on science and technology issues. However, there is a dearth of evidence as to its qualities and benefits. We contend that the implementation and interpretation of participation faces a number of dilemmas that – together –undermine its successful adoption. In this paper, we identify and discuss six specific dilemmas that – together – may militate against the practice and development of good quality participation in science and technology policy, notably dilemmas of Timing; of Relevance; of Representation; of Evaluation; of Criticism; and of Impact. We theoretically account for these dilemmas and discuss their likely impacts. Finally, we provide some suggestions as to how the participation community might attempt to pre-empt difficulties due to these dilemmas and demonstrate participation effectiveness.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 204-221 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Policy Studies |
Volume | 39 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 20 Mar 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Keywords
- Public participation
- dilemmas
- evaluation
- impact
- public engagement
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Political Science and International Relations