Definition
Public participation is defined as the structured involvement of citizens in planning and policy-making processes by offering participation instruments. Evaluation can be understood as the systematic assessment of such instruments and includes its process as well as its outcomes.
Introduction
In the last 30 years, the currently dominant mode of public policy-making in liberal democracies has increasingly come under scrutiny. The symptoms are manifold: Electoral turnout is declining in many countries, citizens are claiming more say in planning and decision-making, and policy-makers face public protest when implementing large infrastructure projects. What’s more, public budgets are often notoriously under stress. In consequence, some political commentators are even diagnosing a legitimacy crisis of liberal democracy. It is therefore not surprising that political analysts and policy-makers are...
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Declaration of Interest
There are no potential conflicts of interest. The chapter is not related to Sebastian H. Schneider’s work at the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval).
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Busse, S., Schneider, S.H. (2018). Evaluation of Public Participation. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3524-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3524-1
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