Levels of Public Participation
- There are generally two types of public participation; partial participation and full participation (Pateman, 1970). Partial participation is a process whereby two or more groups of people influence each other in planning and decision-making. The final decision, nonetheless, lies with the higher authority. On the other hand, full participation is a process whereby each individual in principle has an equal level of power in decision-making.
- Arnstein (1968) has divided the participatory process into eight levels; all arranged in the form of ladder with each rung corresponding to the extent of public power in determining the end product. The bottom rungs of the ladder (manipulation and therapy) describe the levels of non-participation that have been contrived by some to substitute for genuine participation (Arnstein, 1968). Their objective is not to enable community participation in planning but to enable power holders to "educate or cure" the participants.
- Rungs of consultation and placation represent a higher level of tokenism. At this stage, all citizens are allowed to have a say in in the decision making process. Further up the ladder are levels of citizen power with increasing degrees of decision making influence. Citizens can enter into a partnership that enable them to negotiate and engage in trade-offs with traditional power and citizen control where the citizen obtain the majority of decision-making seals and full managerial power (Arnstein, 1968).
- There has been growing consensus emerging from academia and agency assessments of participatory planning. Participation is defined as "a voluntary process whereby people, individually or through organized groups, can exchange information, express opinions or articulate interests and have the potential to influence decisions or the outcome of the matter at hand" (ILO, 2000). Kaner (1996) describes the core values of participatory decision-making as full participation, mutual understanding, inclusive solutions and shared responsibility among stake holders. It has become quite clear that a successful participatory planning programme depends on an active and informed public.
- A common complaint of public participating in planning and decision-making is that the technical and jargon-laden reports and maps make them difficult for laymen to understand and participate. One also often hears officials lamenting on the lack of interest shown by the public. Much can be done to reduce the barriers to public participation by simplifying technical information and making it accessible to a broader segment of society. Recent advances in interactive technologies, such as participatory Geographic Information system (GIS), allow more flexible integration of spatial information gathering and participatory planning. Many government agencies abroad now also post draft plans and background information on the internet to invite public comments and encourage active public participation.
"p/s: Due to some technical problem, the figure that shows the 8 levels of participatory process cannot be published but I'll try my best to upload the figure once I manage to get the book."
Resource: Nurwati Badarulzaman,...[etc.], The University in a garden, participatory planning process, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2006.
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