Apples and oranges: Toward a critique of public participation in great lakes decisions

Abstract

The opportunities for concerned citizens to become involved in Great Lakes planning are increasing. It is opportune to review critically the quality of the public involvement programmes. This critique is accomplished in three, steps. First we discuss the theoreEical rationales for public involvement. Second, we examine the alternative approaches to the evaluation of public involvement. These secLions provide a cont.ext for the third part: the case study on Ehe PLUARG (Pollution from Land Use Activities Group) public involvement prograrnme vhich is evaluated in terms of effectiveness, representatives of parEicipants, interest of participants, public input to the final report, timing and accountability of Ehe process. The analysis points to the risk of self-serving evaluations and to the need for ongoing and independent evaluaEions of public involvement prograrmes. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.