Publications

Public Participation in Europe

This new report from the European Institute for Public Participation highlights the need for higher quality evaluation if public participation is to play its role in renewing democratic processes. Without evaluation, public participation cannot shed its current image of benign novelty and assume its intended position as an essential and powerful force in political and social decision-making – and convincing politicians and administrators that it is here to stay.

Download the full version of the report.

Making their voices heard – and listened to…

As polities become larger and more heterogeneous and their tasks more complex, the erosion of democratic vitality may seem inevitable. But perhaps the problem is not the size and heterogeneity of a polity nor the tasks political institutions face as such, but the way they are designed to address them.

What is needed is a fundamental revitalization of democratic practices, which will empower ordinary citizens in new ways.

In this paper we set out a vision of how to establish participation in real world settings and sketch out the biggest challenges facing practitioners of participation today.

Please download Making their voices heard – and listened to.pdf.