9 The Principle of Participation Participation is defined as the active involvement of a group of individuals in a collective process. Within the context of public administration, participation refers to the involvement of citizens in actual or intended actions of administrative authorities. It has strong links with democracy and the theory on deliberative democracy.1 Involvement can have different outlooks depending on the context in which it occurs. Participation can refer to taking part in preliminary arrangements, influencing decision-makers, or taking part in actual decision-making processes.2 But participation can also be justified from the point of view of a sensible government discovering potential flaws and realizing ownership. Is there any obligation of the administration to pay deference to the views of the citizens? It should be noted that although the term ‘public participation’ presumes that the initiative and procedures are in the hands of citizens, the participation process is generally managed by public entities. A definition formulated by the African Development Foundation seems to be both clear and concise: Participation is a process through which all members of a community or organization are involved in and have influence on decisions related to development activities that will affect them. That implies that development projects will address those community or group needs on which members have chosen to focus, and that all phases of the development process will be characterized by active involvement of community or organization members.3
An interesting aspect is the development of the participation principle with regard to participation as a right, and the question of what consequences there are for the direct and guiding function of the administration.4 The significance of participation is an important part of the development of the principles of good governance under the democratic rule of law as well. Public participation can be motivated by various reasons aside from genuine motives of public participation. The literature5 distinguishes between democratic, constitutional, corporatist, and administrative motives. Democratic motives are opportunities for citizens and groups of citizens to influence and regulate policy. An aim of the constitutional motive for participation is participation as means of protecting individual interests in the context of the balance of powers in the state. The corporatist motive is described as a means for social organizations to achieve their own responsibility. The administrative motive is to have participation serve the interests of the public body. While the distinction between these motives for participation is not always unequivocal, these do offer an indication of the various perspectives—and consequently motives—of the parties involved in public participation. With regards to participation, a distinction can also be made between which type of participation is pursued and the levels of which type of actual participation are achieved, that is, form and degree of participation. A distinction between the various 1 5
Akerboom 2018. Vucsán 1995.
2
Vucsán 1995.
3
ADF 2014.
4
Addink 2008.
Good Governance: Concept and Context. Henk Addink. © Henk Addink 2019. Published 2019 by Oxford University Press.
