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In-Depth Information
development or for altering current practices (for instance in vehicle usage
or energy generation and consumption) in regions and localities. From
this perspective, participation in policy formation is the
rst stage of
engagement in a system of governance that seeks to improve the quality
and perceived legitimacy of policies and plans for their implementation by
signi
cantly enhancing opportunities for public involvement with poli-
tical processes.
Knowledge provided and views expressed in the
rst stage of parti-
cipation would, together with the strategies formed through the back-
casting exercise, feed into the formation of draft policies. A second stage
of participation would then follow with the outcomes of further debate
informing the contents of
nal policy proposals. This could involve
larger-scale participatory exercises such as the organisation of deliber-
ative opinion polls to consider aspects of policy or of targeted consul-
tations with a wider section of society being asked, perhaps through
electronic media, to comment on and/or participate in discussion of
policy proposals.
126
Although remote consultation does not provide
an opportunity to discuss with respondees the reasons why particular
proposals have been put forwards in person, it would have the virtue of
reaching a much wider cross-section of the public. This would reduce
scope for questioning the legitimacy of policies because their contents
have been informed only by the views of the small groups of citizens that
took part in deliberations.
One way of extending the in
uence of small-scale deliberative evalua-
tions of alternative policy approaches would be to require both that
records of the process be published and that policy-makers should issue
a written statement advising how conclusions reached through delibera-
tion have informed policy contents. These documents would be made
available to participants or consultees in the larger-scale processes referred
to above. Such an approach would enhance the meaningfulness of the
smaller-scale deliberations by placing pressure on politicians to take
views expressed in them seriously.
127
It could also assist with addressing
the concern that they lack legitimacy by informing broader sections of
society about conclusions reached by participants and affording them an
126
G. Smith, Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), pp. 78
9.
127
The absence of formal requirements for decision-makers to consider and respond to the
outcomes of innovative participatory processes is identi
ed by Smith in
-
'
Democratic
Innovations
'
,pp.22
-
4, as a factor that can undermine their credibility.
