Public Participation and Innovations in Community Governance

In recent years, nation-states across the world have become interested in, and committed to, increasing the participation of citizens in "public affairs". This general interest in public participation has been accompanied, according to some writers, by a move from systems of government to what those like Rhodes call "governance". It was to investigate the ways in which developments in public participation related to ideas of "community government" that the Centre for the Study of Public Participation at the University of Luton, in collaboration with the Political Science department at Gotburg University, decided to hold an international conference. The conference took place in June 1999 at the University of Luton's Putteridge Bay site. Many of the chapters in this volume include papers given at the conference, while others have been written for the book. The papers look at governance, and Western fiscal crisis and its relation to governance, with some writers viewing the term as relating to the development of forms in which society is more fully involved in the process of governing. It also looks at initiatives in public participation and democracy, asking how efforts to increase public participation have any connection with democracy. The work closes on a consideration of the approaches of different writers and institutions to public participation. Some chapters take an historical approach to the developments under scrutiny, while other writers are able to analyse specific initiatives with less historical background. An effort has been made to avoid an exclusive confrontation of advanced capitalist countries, those in Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.