ancient cities

144 Citizenship
Table 1 Advantages of Citizen Participation in Government Decision Making
Advantages to Citizen Participants Advantages to Government
Decision process Education (learn from and inform
government representatives)
Persuade and enlighten government
Gain skills for activist citizenship
Outcomes Break gridlock; achieve outcomes
Gain some control over policy process
Better policy and implementation
decisions
Sherry Arnstein described a ladder of participation
that illustrates the ascending forms of engagement,
from nonparticipation (manipulation and
therapy) to tokenism (informing, consultation,
placation), and finally citizen power (partnership,
delegated power, and citizen control). Many participatory
strategies utilized by governments, such
as public hearings, fall in the “consultation” or
“informing” range of the participation ladder.
Working groups such as watershed councils and
other citizen advisory forums can achieve results
beyond “placation,” to a true shaping of government
initiatives.
The gains from a more participatory process
need to be weighed against potential costs. First, a
participatory process will be time consuming for
government representatives and citizens alike.
Second, individuals taking part in a participatory
process may not be representative of the public. In
fact, they tend to come from the highest socioeconomic
groups in a community. Consequently,
interest groups or engaged individuals may mold
the decision making in their interest rather than in
the public interest.
At the very least, government decision making
requires a keen awareness of public sentiment
on current issues and proposed policy issues.
Participatory processes must be carefully designed
to solicit and act upon citizen recommendations
for improvements in policy making.
Renee A. Irvin
See also Advocacy Planning; Community Organizing;
Governance; Urban Planning; Urban Politics
Further Readings
Education (learn from and inform citizens)
Persuade citizens; build trust and allay
anxiety or hostility
Build strategic alliances
Gain legitimacy of decisions
Break gridlock; achieve outcomes
Avoid litigation costs
Better policy and implementation
decisions
Source: Irvin, Renee, and John Stansbury. “Citizen Participation in Decision Making: Is It Worth the Effort?” Public
Administration Review 64 (January/February 2004): 55–65. Reprinted with permission of Wiley-Blackwell.
Arnstein, Sherry R. 1969. “A Ladder of Citizen
Participation.” Journal of the American Institute of
Planners 35(3):903–57.
Irvin, Renee A. and John Stansbury. 2004. “Citizen
Participation in Decision Making: Is It Worth the
Effort?” Public Administration Review 64(1):55–65.
Pateman, Carole. 1970. Participation and Democratic
Theory. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
CitizEnship
Citizenship is a complex (political, legal, social,
and cultural but perhaps also sexual, aesthetic,
and ethical) institution of domination and empowerment
that governs both who citizens (insiders),
subjects (strangers, outsiders), and abjects (aliens)
are and how these figures are to govern themselves
and each other in a given body politic. The essential
difference between citizenship and membership
is that whereas the latter governs conduct
within social groups, citizenship is about conduct
across social groups that constitute a body politic.
Being a citizen almost always means not only
being an insider but also one who has mastered
appropriate modes and forms of conduct of being