Article Analysis Essay on "Putting the Public Back Into Governance"

Introduction

The scholarly article "Putting the public back into governance: The challenges of citizen participation and its future" by Fung (2015) is an article that considers a proliferation of experiments in participatory governance. Within the study, it takes into consideration the stock of claims concerning the potential of citizen participation to develop the various aspects of democratic governance. The three values include social justice, legitimacy, and effectiveness. In a deeper consideration of the study, the author provides significant points on the occurrence that there is an increasing constraint on the public sector in numerous communities in combination with the growing urge of individual participation and engagement as well as the affordances if growing technology which has paved the way for the participatory innovations seeking effective governance. In addition to Fung's main points, he elaborates that deepening legitimations deficits of representative governments maintain the creation of opportunities for legitimacy, which, on the other hand, enhances forms of citizen engagement in governance.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

However, there is an unclear definition concerning the impacts of meetings and participation on legitimacy in governance. In as much as the article points out the various involvements concerning the effect of the public in governance, the author defines that there is a particular obstacle to the citizen participation in management with an increase in social justice being the most significant hindrance. On the other hand, the article also delivers various challenges to the creation of successful participatory governance. The lack of elite consensus on the locations of direct citizen participation, limited scope and powers of participatory innovations, and the absence of systematic leadership are amongst the significant challenges to creating progressive citizen participatory governance.

Correspondingly, there is public policy feasibility of ideas as defined by the author. The author's essential ideas revolve around the practitioner points that's he intended to deliver. For instance, the author provides that citizen participation is not just about policy but entails more citizen participation. According to the author, substantial citizen engagement is sustainable over time only if citizens come to support the practices of cooperation. However, it is reliant on the occurrence that citizens grow into a constituency that will not only engage in the governance but also provide security and defense in case of efforts to reduce public participation in governance.

Within the public policy, for the citizen's engagement, there is the need for a clear intention for convening the public and deliver engagement in a manner that envisions a proper path that could render development into the intended objectivities. It is critical to ensure appropriate participation in ways that its events and outcomes remain significant to the public. In cases where the public policy is poorly designed, it could result in apathy or cynicism. Also, there is a likelihood of misunderstanding and confusion as a result of failed public policy among other occurrence involved with the objectives of public policy in the governance as delivered by the author. According to the article, it is equally imperative to consider the full menu of design choices for engaging citizens. For instance, the public policy could recognize the participation in different forms such as different ways of exchanging data and communication and the various empowerment levels.

Theories and Frameworks in the Article

In line with the aims and objectives of the article revolving around the potentials of citizen involvement in governance along with the challenges and future of citizen participation, this article covers various terminologies and frameworks. After the delivery of the "Varieties of Participation in Complex Governance" article that had three primary aims including: drawing attention among public administrators and practitioners to the fact of the diversity of public participation; showing the variations in design matter; and offer a focused way of organizing our thinking concerning participatory design choices, the author provides the involvement of the "democracy cube." The democracy cube is the primary framework the article used since it highlights three significant variables in the construction of public engagement in government. For instance, it provides details concerning who participates in the public commitment, how communication occurs and decisions made, as well as the extent of the public involvement over public decisions and social action.

Along with the democracy cube framework utilized in the article, the author also includes and considers the impact of the recent publicity on democratic values, including justice, effective governance and justice. In as much as the varieties of participation is involved, the theories concerning a speculative retrospective of participatory governance provides some of the broad terms that have unfolded over the past decades. Through a figure providing the general public meeting in the democracy cube, it gives a selection of the different approaches, theories (such as the political theory to enhance legitimacy in democratic governance, and frameworks as utilized in the article.

Weakness and Issues in the Article

Additionally, there are significant issues in the article, as outlined by the author. For instance, the report could convey accurate information and data concerning public participation in governance. It is because, in most of the occurrences, the author has based most of the data to a previous article "Varieties of Participation in Complex Governance" (Fung 2006) which only aimed the diversity in the practices of public participation this could undermine the arguments delivered in the paper.

Methodology

As the author provides a dialogue in the article, he engages the participates who are the public and other scholars instead of just delivering information and speeches. Through the participation of the people, it maintains that they can play a significant role in shaping public policies. At first, the author provides details on a prior study and presents a question concerning the range of citizen participation in governance. Based on the findings and conclusions, it is evident that the author succeeds in engaging the public and the policymakers.

Conclusion

To sum everything up, the issue concerning citizen participation in governance is sometimes seen as a way to increase the efficacy of regulation, improvement of the public service delivery, and boost the outcomes in amenities such as education and health. In the involvement of the public in governance, it means that it could render various solutions to various problems revolving around the democratic legitimacy of governance. According to the article, the social justice consequences of participatory governance reforms that could be directed to improving the efficacy of governance. Moreover, the piece revolves around the challenges of citizen participation and its future, which means that it does not outline the significant factors as it revolves around legitimacy, justice, and effective governance. In as much as the challenges to public participation include leadership, the lack of a broad, accessible articulation and agreement on the role of non-electoral public involvement in contemporary democratic institutions, and triviality there could be other involved occurrences.

Bibliography

Fung, Archon. "Putting the public back into governance: The challenges of citizen participation and its future." Public Administration Review 75, no. 4 (2015): 513-522. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12361