Citizens participation: Some basic principles and how to manage them CIPAST training workshop Dresde

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Citizens participationSome basic
principlesand how to manage themCIPAST
training workshopDresden, June 27 2006André
KromRathenau InstituteThe Netherlands
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Outline

• Rathenau Institute
• Principles in action
• Empowerment of participants
• The management of expectations
• Equity and fairness of deliberation
• Representativeness
• Relevance
• Problems and how to handle them
• Learning points
• Discussion

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Rathenau Institute

• Since 1986
• Financed by Ministry of Science
• Technology Science System Assessment
• Main target group Dutch Parliament
• Methods studies science festivals
• CIPAST member
• Topics nano, obesity, energy, sports, ICT

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(1) Empower participants

• Relevance technology affects our lives
• Autonomy
• skills, opinions, decisions, actions,
• who sets the agenda, frames the problems, etc?
• Conditions
• enable access to relevant information, experts,
  literature, etc. (who selects them?)

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Problems

• 1. Citizens
• tension between individual and group autonomy
• 2. Experts
• knowledge gap (any answer goes)
• different frames
• 3. Giving voice is great, but who will listen?
• 4. TA organisation
• steering towards accepted outcomes

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Possible solutions

• 1. Citizens
• be very clear about the aims and consequences
• 2. Experts
• assist in scrutinizing expert answers
• make frameworks explicit, try to find common
  ground
• 3. Open up processes (of decision-making, problem
  framing, agenda setting)
• 4. TA organisation
• steer on process level, but help to reflect on
  content

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(2) Management of expectations

• Relevance democracy is very precious
• Problems
• hidden agendas (all involved)
• inherent unpredictability of politics
• longer/ more intense process ? higher
  expectations
• especially with a Parliamentary TA Institute

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Possible solutions

• talk to all (other) parties involved beforehand
• ask them what they expect and want
• tell them what you expect and want
• dont make promises you know you cant keep
• make clear that youre only one player in the
  game
• adjust time and energy to expected impact
  (paradox)
• expect the unexpected

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(3) Equity and fairness of deliberation

• Relevance only way for true participation
• Problems
• people are not equal
• knowledge, education, communicative skills, etc.
• irreducible asymmetry between people (power)
• limited rationality (e.g. statistics)
• limited time and energy
• incommensurable arguments
• rhetorical arguments

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Possible solutions

• accept differences
• protect participants only when necessary
• make rhetorical arguments explicit
• work in smaller subgroups
• make things as concrete as possible (cases)
• dont take sides or choose your favourites
• work with an independent chair
• dont wear the participants out

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(4) Representativiness

• Relevance user knowledge (autonomy)
• Problems
• who cares what 10 or 20 citizens think?
• who are the stakeholders? (new technology)
• inclusion, exclusion

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Possible solutions

• Stress importance of process (paradox)
• lessens chance of being used
• Combine qualitative and quantitative methods
• for verification (starting point)
• to deepen insight (elite sports)

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Learning points

• Participation requires open processes
• Make a conscious decision about relation between
• time and energy needed expected impact
• time and energy needed autonomy
• Independence does not require neutrality
• make things explicit, but dont make the choices
• Be sure you know why participation matters!

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Discussion

• Thank you very much for listening!
• Are there any questions?
• Or comments?