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The dark side of public participation: Participative processes that legitimize elected officials’ values
Author(s) -
Bouchard Nancy
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
canadian public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.361
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1754-7121
pISSN - 0008-4840
DOI - 10.1111/capa.12199
Subject(s) - democracy , great rift , political science , power (physics) , public administration , public participation , public relations , public opinion , sociology , politics , law , physics , quantum mechanics , astronomy
The literature on public participation suggests that engaging the public in policy‐making empowers citizens and enhances democracy. Drawing on conditions of “authentic” participation derived from this literature, this critical analysis shows that the public consultation said to have informed Canada's new prostitution laws served to legitimize the governing party's policy orientation. The contribution of this article is twofold: providing an in‐depth, critical account of how a public participation process can endorse elected officials’ values; and identifying factors that may be associated to this outcome. Ultimately, this article shines the spotlight on a force often neglected in the public participation literature: power.