Citizen participation matters. Bureaucratic discretion matters more

New Public Governance theory increases citizen participation and expands bureaucrats' roles in the work of government. Citizen creates new mechanisms for citizens to influence policy process. Bureaucrats' expanded allow broader bureaucratic discretion over implementation. When citizens' views on public management decisions collide, whose prevail? Do volunteers or bureaucrats have greater decisions? We answer this question by studying U.S. Department Energy's initiative engage environmental clean-up decisions. assess 10 years meeting records administrative using a three-step, mixed-method analysis identify, weigh, test discretion. The results indicate that while matters, has more significant decision-making. findings expose holes theory, which implications democracy demands deeper thought into structuring participation.