IV ISA Forum of Sociology (February 23-28, 2021)

130

Multiple Scales of Citizen Participation in Policymaking

Abstract Submissions Closed

RC10 Participation, Organizational Democracy and Self-Management (host committee)

Language: English, French and Spanish

Session Type: Oral

Worldwide, practices of citizen participation in policymaking have grown extensively on the local scale. While the proximity between elected and electors is expected to boost mutual trust and accountability, however, thinkers agree that the local scale may facilitate trends of depoliticization and romaticization of community struggles. Supra-local practices bring additional layers of complexity to this topic, and require major attention from scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to develop their potential. Against this backdrop, this session aims to address multiple scales of citizen participation and the extent to which their values and mechanisms underpin different forms to engage citizens. Focus on the factors that explain whether local and supralocal participation either hinder or improve shared decision-making between public authorities and citizens will provide meaningful insights to advance knowledge in this field of studies and practice. In this panel, scholars and practitioners are invited to share their knowledge and expertise on local, regional, national and international processes of citizen participation in policymaking, and contribute to the international debate from multiple disciplinary perspectives and approaches.