Participatory governance

Z Encyklopedia Administracji Publicznej

PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE – the direction of public management, in which citizens are perceived as stakeholders entering into dialogue with the public administration about the directions of its operation. The foundation of the concept is the active participation of citizens in the governance processes and the number of people participating in the co-decision – the more participants in the decision-making process, the greater the chance to exert an effective influence on the ruling elite, and thus on the legitimacy of actions taken by the authorities. P.g. is one of the currents of the concept of governance, which was formed at the beginning of the 21st century, it postulates a shift from electoral democracy towards civic democracy and a departure from treating citizens as voters and consumers and instead as co-decision-makers in solving problems and co-makers of good. At the base of p.g. is a change in the role of public authorities and remodeling the relationship between the authorities and the citizen. Public governance ceases to be reserved for the exclusive competence of public administration and it is also open to individual citizens who become co-responsible for the decision-making process. In p.g. the individual and charismatic leadership of leaders plays a special role, but also the role of local communities (forms through which citizens can participate in making decisions and implementing the adopted policy). With the development of p.g. alongside traditional forms of civic participation (such as participation in elections or referendums), new tools for engaging citizens in public life (e.g., citizens’ panel, deliberative polls, civic budget) have begun to emerge. (→ social participation, participatory democracy; good governance) [ E. Szulc-Wałecka ].

Literature: M. Bevir, Key concept in governance, Berkeley 2011 ■ The SAGE handbook of governance, ed. M. Bevir, Berkeley 2011 ■ The Oxford Handbook of governance, ed. D. Levi-Faur, New York 2012. ■ Współzarządzanie publiczne [Public co-management], ed. S. Mazur, Warszawa 2015

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