TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessing Online Consultation in Participatory Governance

T2 - Conceptual Framework and a Case Study of a National Sustainability-related Consultation Platform in Germany

AU - Schulz, Daniel

AU - Newig, Jens

PY - 2015/1/1

Y1 - 2015/1/1

N2 - Experimenting with different forms of public participation in environmental governance, online consultation has become a widely used instrument. While these new forms of participatory mechanisms have attracted considerable scientific interest, research still remains fragmented and largely disconnected from mainstream literature on participatory governance. This article seeks to close this gap by developing an analytical framework that utilizes this literature to bring together formerly isolated findings in the new field of online participation. This framework is subsequently applied to the empirical case of an online consultation called ‘Mitreden-U’ conducted by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment in 2010. By relating key categories of established concepts (e.g. empowerment, participant selection, information flow), the framework allows us to examine the specific opportunities and challenges of online participation. Findings show that while online participation mechanisms have potential to open up governance structures and provide a venue for meaningful interaction, they also require careful design considerations as well as a cultural change on behalf of public administrators.

AB - Experimenting with different forms of public participation in environmental governance, online consultation has become a widely used instrument. While these new forms of participatory mechanisms have attracted considerable scientific interest, research still remains fragmented and largely disconnected from mainstream literature on participatory governance. This article seeks to close this gap by developing an analytical framework that utilizes this literature to bring together formerly isolated findings in the new field of online participation. This framework is subsequently applied to the empirical case of an online consultation called ‘Mitreden-U’ conducted by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment in 2010. By relating key categories of established concepts (e.g. empowerment, participant selection, information flow), the framework allows us to examine the specific opportunities and challenges of online participation. Findings show that while online participation mechanisms have potential to open up governance structures and provide a venue for meaningful interaction, they also require careful design considerations as well as a cultural change on behalf of public administrators.

KW - Politics

KW - e-government

KW - Environmental governance

KW - e-participation

KW - online participation

KW - Participatory governance

KW - web-based participation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84923274369&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/eet.1655

DO - 10.1002/eet.1655

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 25

SP - 55

EP - 69

JO - Environmental Policy and Governance

JF - Environmental Policy and Governance

SN - 1756-932X

IS - 1

ER -