Thomas Zittel

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• Thomas Zittel
• Participatory Engineering
• Can Institutional Reform Increase The Quantity
  and Quality of Political Participation?
• Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische
  Sozialforschung

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Participatory Engineering A Definition
The purposive attempt of political elites to
positively affect the quantity and quality of
political participation by increasing
institutional opportunities to participate.
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Examples for Participatory Engineering

• Germany
• Legislative initiative in March 2002
• Aim Change the Basic Law to allow for direct
  decision making at the federal level.
• Reason Increase the level of participation and a
  foster a sense of collective responsibility
• Outcome Failed

• Sweden
• Commission on Democracy, 1997-2000
• Minister of Democracy, appointed in 1998
• Governmental Bill on Democracy Policy, 2002

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Does Participatory Engineering Work?The Sceptics
Liberal Democratic Theory No, participation is
explained by an anthropological constant
(Schumpeter 1942 Sartori 1987)
Theories of Political Participation No,
participation is explained by socio-economic
status (Verba and Nie 1972), civic skills
acquired at an early stage in life (Brady et al.
1995), and time (Brady et al. 1995).
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Does Participatory Engineering Work? The
Optimists

• Theories of Democratic Innovation
• Yes, new types of institutions matter (Fung and
  Wright 2003, Smith 2005)
• Range of empirical options?
• How can projects become institutions?
• Plausibility of effects?

• Comparativist Theories of Political
  Participation Yes, institutions matter such as
  direct democracy, certain electoral institutions
  or local democracy (Cain/Dalton/Scarrow 2003)
• Range of empirical options?
• Plausibility of effects?
• Politics?
• Some conceptual stretching

• Participatory Democracy Yes, social institutions
  matter (Pateman 1970)
• Range of empirical options?
• Politics?

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The Tools for Participatory Engineering
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The Politics of Participatory Engineering

• Trends facilitating Participatory Engineering
• Decline of established forms of political
  participation
• Increasingly negative attitudes towards government

?
Participatory Engineering Bad Policies VS Good
Policies

• The Effectiveness of Policies

?

• Interests of Rational Decision Makers
• Secure legitimacy
• Keep authority

?
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Open Questions Regarding Research Design

• Operational definition of each Instrument
• Small N Comparison
• Case Selection
• Variance in reform activities?
• Variance in problem context?
• Variance in political context?
• Data collection commissioned case studies
  expert survey
• Pro Common framework
• Two functions
• Independent analysis
• Gateway to available data
• Three types of data
• Structural trends/Description of policy
• politics (Interests, Ideas, Institutions)
• behavioral effects