Putting the public back into governance: The challenges of citizen participation and its future
Abstract
Abstract The past two decades have seen a proliferation of large‐ and small‐scale experiments in participatory governance. This article takes stock of claims about the potential of citizen participation to advance three values of democratic governance: effectiveness, legitimacy, and social justice. Increasing constraints on the public sector in many societies, combined with increasing demand for individual engagement and the affordances of digital technology, have paved the way for participatory innovations aimed at effective governance. Deepening legitimation deficits of representative government create opportunities for legitimacy‐enhancing forms of citizen participation, but so far, the effect of participation on legitimacy is unclear. Efforts to increase social justice through citizen participation face the greatest obstacles. The article concludes by highlighting three challenges to creating successful participatory governance: the absence of systematic leadership, the lack of popular or elite consensus on the place of direct citizen participation, and the limited scope and powers of participatory innovations.
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In reality, governments at all levels still hesitate in fully committing to these processes.
“In reality, governments at all levels still hesitate in fully committing to these processes (Fung, 2015).”
From Between promise and practice: a scoping review of the democratic outcomes of youth participation in local governance (2026) · cites this paper as Fung, 2015
The experience of participants and the outcomes of participatory governance are heavily influenced by political and administrative choices.
“The literature on public participation tells us that the experience of participants and the outcomes of participatory governance are heavily influenced by political and administrative choices (Fung, 2015; Peters et al., 2022).”
From Between promise and practice: a scoping review of the democratic outcomes of youth participation in local governance (2026) · cites this paper as Fung, 2015
The participation-power paradox resonates with Fung's (2015) analysis of power distribution in participatory governance and Sørensen's (1997) work on democracy and empowerment.
“Such a paradox resonates with Fung ' s (2015) analysis of power distribution in participatory governance and S ø rensen ' s (1997) work on democracy and empowerment.”
From Between promise and practice: a scoping review of the democratic outcomes of youth participation in local governance (2026) · cites this paper as Fung ' s (2015)
The design and execution of participatory processes significantly influence their outcomes.
“This aligns with arguments by Nabatchi and Amsler (2014) and Fung (2015) that the design and execution of participatory processes significantly influ ence their outcomes.”
From Between promise and practice: a scoping review of the democratic outcomes of youth participation in local governance (2026) · cites this paper as Fung (2015)
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Introduction: Embedding participatory governance
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- Authors
- Fung, A.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Fung, Archon
- ORCID
- Fung, Archon
- Venue
- Public Administration Review
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-02-25
- Volume
- 75
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 513-522
- ISSN
- 0033-3352 (ISSN-L)
- 1540-6210
- OpenAlex
- W1964213418
- Cited by
- 1,232
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 157 · 2025: 167 · 2024: 112 · 2023: 104 · 2022: 158 · 2021: 143 · 2020: 122 · 2019: 105 · 2018: 68 · 2017: 56 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 3
- FWCI
- 355.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Public Administration Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
- Social Sciences › Public Administration › Public Policy and Administration Research
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Public Administration and Political Analysis
- Keywords
- citizen participation, participatory governance, democratic legitimacy, social justice, effective governance, digital technologies, representative government, participatory innovation, leadership, consensus
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