Comments on: What Is Public Participation?

By: What Is Public Participation?

What Is Public Participation? — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:47:23 +0000

[...] already have one very good definition of public participation in the archives, but for comparison’s sake, here’s the official IAP2 definition as per [...]

By: Talking About Participation « Intellitics

Talking About Participation « Intellitics — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:15:03 +0000

[...] any rate, more people using more precise language would be very helpful. Here’s one working definition we [...]

By: Crowdsourcing and Public Participation « Intellitics

Crowdsourcing and Public Participation « Intellitics — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:31:41 +0000

[...] the key terms in the conversation about government 2.0 in general and participation in particular: public participation, crowdsourcing and “the wisdom of the crowds” — unless I am terribly mistaken, [...]

By: Stephen Buckley

Stephen Buckley — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:19:21 +0000

Tim,

I was referring to the definition (IAP2/Northern Calif. chapter)that you cited in your original posting:

“Public participation is two-way communication and collaborative problem solving …”

So, does that mean that the Northern California chapter of IAP2 has crafted different language and is presenting its own definition of “public participation” (i.e., it requires “collaboration”) than that of the larger IAP2 organization?

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:13:44 +0000

Which IAP2 definition are you referring to? I’m pretty sure they do not require collaboration but instead have a much broader definition of public participation.

According to their Spectrum of Public Participation (PDF), they explicitly include “inform” (to provide the public with balanced and objective information, to assist them in understanding the problem, alternatives, opportunities and/or solutions) and “consult” (to obtain public feedback on analysis, alternatives and/or decisions) as valid public participation goals.

So even efforts where the public is offered nothing more than information on the issue or where an opportunity to comment is offered only after a decision has been made could still be considered public participation according to IAP2’s model, though the level of public impact will probably be small (compared to, say, public co-creation of policy).

The spectrum lists “public comment” as an example technique for the “consult” goal.

By: Stephen Buckley

Stephen Buckley — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:50:49 +0000

IAP2 defines “participation” as always including collaboration.

So, if the public is asked for comments to a specific proposal, then that would not include “collaboration” (since the public was not invited to craft the proposal or offer alternatives).

So that means that, when the pubic participates in a “request for public comments” (i.e, non-collaborative), the IAP2 would say that it does not qualify as “public participation”.

Ne c’est-pas?