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Community engagement and public administration: Of silos, overlays and technologies of government
Author(s) -
Boxelaar Lucia,
Paine Mark,
Beilin Ruth
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
australian journal of public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-8500
pISSN - 0313-6647
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8500.2006.00476.x
Subject(s) - public relations , government (linguistics) , public administration , administration (probate law) , reflexivity , process (computing) , community engagement , civil society , public engagement , public sector , business , private sector , sociology , political science , politics , social science , philosophy , linguistics , computer science , law , operating system
The public policy process in Australia is changing towards a more interactive, collaborative model, where governments seek to develop partnerships with civil society and private sector organisations to manage complex policy challenges. This article discusses research conducted into a project implemented by a Victorian government department that sought to involve stakeholders in addressing natural resource management issues in the agricultural sector. The research revealed that public administration practices associated with the new public management approach impeded the ability of the project to facilitate participation by diverse stakeholders in the decision‐making process. The article challenges the view that the discourse of collaboration and community engagement takes public administration down a constructivist path and suggests that agencies need to become reflexive about the way in which public administration practices are constitutive of the community engagement process if they are to facilitate genuine participation of other stakeholders.