When Will Public Officials Listen? A Vignette Experiment on the Effects of Input Legitimacy on Public Officials' Willingness to Use Public Participation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Migchelbrink, Koen; Van de Walle, Steven
• 署名单位: KU Leuven; KU Leuven
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/puar.13138
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 271-280
• 关键词: citizen participation; VALUES; responsiveness; PERSPECTIVES; performance; governance; attitudes; DEMOCRACY

摘要

Public officials can be reluctant to use citizens' input in decision-making, especially when turnout is low and participants are unrepresentative of the wider population. Using Fritz Scharpf's democratic legitimacy approach, the authors conducted a survey-based vignette experiment to examine how the input legitimacy of participatory processes affects (1) public officials' willingness to use public participation in administrative decision-making, (2) their assessment of the quality of the policy decision, and (3) their anticipation of popular support for the policy outcome. The study shows that turnout and participants' representativeness have a positive and significant effect on public officials' attitudes toward public participation. Specifically, participants' representativeness influences public officials' willingness to use citizens' inputs more than turnout.