The Professionalization of Public Participation

 

 

The Professionalization of Public Participation

Laurence Bherer, Mario Gauthier and Louis Simard (eds.)

Routledge

2017

264 p.

38 £

 

 

 

The Professionalization of Public Participation is an edited collection of essays by leading and emerging scholars examining the emerging profession of public participation professionals.

Public participation professionals are persons working in the public, private, or third sectors that are paid to design, implement, and/or facilitate participatory forums. The rapid growth and proliferation of participatory arrangements call for expertise in the organizing of public participation. The contributors analyze the professionalization of this practice in different countries (United States, France, Canada, Italy, and the United Kingdom) to see how their actions challenge the development of participatory arrangements. Designing such processes is a delicate activity, since it may affect not only the quality of the processes and their legitimacy, but also their capacity to influence decision-making.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Laurence Bherer, Mario Gauthier & Louis Simard, Introduction. The public participation professional: an invisible but pivotal actor in participatory processes

Section I. Specific context

Chapter 2 - Rodolfo Lewanski & Stefania Ravazzi, Innovating public participation. The role of PPPs and institutions in Italy

Chapter 3 - Alice Mazeaud & Magali Nonjon, The participatory democracy market in France: Between standardization and fragmentation

Chapter 4 - Caroline W. Lee, Public participation professionals in the US: Confronting challenges of equity and empowerment

Chapter 5 - Laurence Bherer, Mario Gauthier & Louis Simard, Who’s the client? The sponsor, citizens, or the participatory process? Tensions in the Quebec (Canada) public participation field

Chapter 6 - Jason Chilvers, Expertise, professionalization and reflexivity in mediating public participation: Perspectives from STS and British science and democracy

Section II. Actors and networks

Chapter 7 - Oliver Escobar, Making it official: Participation professionals and the challenge of institutionalizing deliberative democracy

Chapter 8 - David Kahane & Kristjana Loptson, Negotiating professional boundaries: Learning from collaboration between academics and deliberation practitioners

Chapter 9 - Nina Amelung & Louisa Grabner, Making citizen panels a "universal bestseller": Transnational mobilization practices of public participation advocates

Chapter 10 - Kathryn S. Quick & Jodi R. Sandfort, Learning to facilitate: Implications for skill development in the public participation field

Chapter 11 - Laurence Bherer, Mario Gauthier & Louis Simard, Conclusion