Citizen participation and changing governance: cases of devolution in England

Authors:
Brenton Prosser University of Sheffield, UK/ Australian National University, Australia

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Alan Renwick University College London, UK

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Arianna Giovannini De Montfort University, UK

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Mark Sandford House of Commons, UK

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Matthew Flinders University of Sheffield, UK

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Will Jennings University of Southampton, UK

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Graham Smith University of Westminster, UK

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Paolo Spada University of Coimbra, Portugal

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Gerry Stoker University of Southampton, UK/ University of Canberra, Australia

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Katie Ghose Electoral Reform Society, UK

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Article Category:
Research Article
Copyright:
© Policy Press 2017
Online Publication Date:
20 Mar 2017
Pages:
251–269
Publisher:
Policy Press
Volume/Issue:
Volume 45: Issue 2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1332/030557317X14895974141213
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The current process of devolving powers within England constitutes a significant change of governance arrangements. This process of devolution has been widely criticised for including insufficient consultation. This paper assesses whether that criticism is fair. Modifying Archon Fung’s framework for the analysis of public participation mechanisms, we begin by considering whether the depth of public engagement has been limited. Then, by comparing these consultation practices with other examples (including one we have ourselves trialled in pilot experiments), we find that deeper forms of public engagement would have been both possible (though at some financial cost) and productive.

Brenton Prosser University of Sheffield, UK/ Australian National University, Australia

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Alan Renwick University College London, UK

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Arianna Giovannini De Montfort University, UK

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Mark Sandford House of Commons, UK

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Matthew Flinders University of Sheffield, UK

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Will Jennings University of Southampton, UK

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Graham Smith University of Westminster, UK

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Paolo Spada University of Coimbra, Portugal

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Gerry Stoker University of Southampton, UK/ University of Canberra, Australia

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Katie Ghose Electoral Reform Society, UK

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b.prosser@sheffield.ac.uk
a.renwick@ucl.ac.uk
arianna.giovannini@dmu.ac.uk
sandfordm@parliament.uk
m.flinders@sheffield.ac.uk
w.j.jennings@soton.ac.uk
g.smith@westminster.ac.uk
spadayale@gmail.com
g.stoker@soton.ac.uk

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