Politics and Public Involvement

[Greg Bourne <g.bourne@mindspring.com>]

I want to respond to participant's comments about EPA either being unresponsive or "collaborating" with polluters.  There are at least two important lessons to be gained from these comments.

First, public involvement cannot be separated from politics.  Public invovlement should not be seen "in a vacuum" from the political process.  Rather it becomes part of the political process of raising people's awareness and getting them involved in decision making processes.  The "politics of persuasion" also enters into the equation, as public involvement does not usurp broader political processes.  So it is not uncommon to have political efforts at affecting a decision occurring at the same time as collaborative efforts.  The key is making sure everyone is aware of how these interrelate, so realistic expectations are established. 

This leads to the second point.  Public invovlement and collaborative processes must be open and inclusive from the earliest stages.  When they are not, it raises legitimate questions about fairness and bias.  It also leads to frustration, and among more politically saavy groups, a sense of "why bother?"  The lack of openness and inclusivity - and tailoring process to the specific conditions and dynamics of each situation - are sure fire ways to undermine good intentions about collaboration.  It is no longer good enough to begin with good intentions.  Good intentions must be inextricably linked with good process.  Otherwise we will continue to alienate key stakeholders, the implications of which are evident.  

At another level, government agencies have an even greater responsibility - they should also be looking at these processes from the standpoint of strengthening civic engagement.  If we truly want to involve citizens in effective and meanginful ways - which is a legitimate objective of government - the processes must be inclusive AND demonstrate a direct relationship to the decision making process.  [The distinction also needs to be made between truly collaborative processes which are part of the decision making process, and other worthwhile but very different objectives such as public education and public relations.] 

There is another key piece to this, which is helping move government agencies, organizations and citizens beyond the  adversarial mindset.  But first we have to create some viable alternatives.  This is another reason why the availability of effective collaborative and public involvement processes is so important - to have some alternatives to the excessive, and often needless, adversarialism that characterizes too much of the public decision making landscape.  Much more could be, and needs to be, said about this - but this is already too long.