Public Participation, Legitimate Political Decisions, and Controversial Technologies

How to reach legitimate decisions when the procedure is controversial

Imagine that a group which faces a decision problem does not agree on which decision procedure is appropriate. Can then a decision be reached that respects the procedural concerns of the group? There is a sense in which decisions can be legitimized without a legitimized procedure. We propose to decide in favour of an option which maximizes the number of persons whose judged-right procedure happ...

Legitimate Grievances Preferences for Democracy, System Support, and Political Participation in Bolivia

Many cross-national surveys examine the extent to which citizens of new democracies believe that democracy is always preferable to any other form of government. There is little evidence, however, regarding how such attitudes affect citizen behavior. This article examines the case of Bolivia, asking whether and how Bolivians’ attitudes toward democracy affect participation, including contacts wi...

Political Efficacy and political participation

Public Participation in Environmental Decisions: Stakeholders, Authorities and Procedural Justice

Successful management of environmental quality via regulation by federal, state and local governments depends on citizen and stakeholder support. Without it, limited capabilities for enforcing compliance from unwilling citizens and legislative action to overturn unpopular regulations would doom attempts to regulate. Increasingly, public agencies responsible for formulating environmental regulat...

Public Management Decision-Making: Technical vs. Political Decisions