Administrators and Citizens: Measuring Agency Officials' Efforts to Foster and Use Public Input in Forest Policy

Abstract

This study examines a basic question: In a federal system such as the United States, do officials at lower levels of governance foster and incorporate citizen input in policy making more than do officials at higher levels? Long-standing efforts to bring the government closer to the people have included calls for devolution of policy responsibility from national to state governments. But the claim that such devolution would lead to greater participation has not been tested empirically. This study tests the claim in one policy sector by comparing state and national agency officials' efforts to foster and use citizen participation in public forest policy. Indicators, developed and applied across four cases, do not support this claim. Rather, in three of four indicators, national officials make greater efforts to encourage citizen participation. Moreover, national officials are more likely than are state officials to say that the goal of such efforts is to influence decisions. Crucial factors that cause these differences are statutory constraints, legislator pressure, underlying agency missions, and personnel mobility.