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Varieties of Participation in Complex Governance
Author(s) -
Fung Archon
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00667.x
Subject(s) - legitimacy , corporate governance , democracy , space (punctuation) , mechanism (biology) , subject (documents) , public administration , political science , economic justice , public participation , democratic governance , action (physics) , function (biology) , public relations , law and economics , sociology , politics , economics , law , epistemology , management , linguistics , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , evolutionary biology , library science , computer science , biology
The multifaceted challenges of contemporary governance demand a complex account of the ways in which those who are subject to laws and policies should participate in making them. This article develops a framework for understanding the range of institutional possibilities for public participation. Mechanisms of participation vary along three important dimensions: who participates, how participants communicate with one another and make decisions together, and how discussions are linked with policy or public action. These three dimensions constitute a space in which any particular mechanism of participation can be located. Different regions of this institutional design space are more and less suited to addressing important problems of democratic governance such as legitimacy, justice, and effective administration.