Where and How You Sit: How Civil Servants View Citizens’ Participation

TY - JOUR

T1 - Where and How You Sit: How Civil Servants View Citizens’ Participation

AU - Pedersen, Karin Hilmer

AU - Johannsen, Lars

PY - 2016/1/1

Y1 - 2016/1/1

N2 - Citizen participation is disputed; some see it as enhancing democracy while others see it as undermining representative government. Some find it increases administrative efficiency, and others find it creates additional costs. Studies argue that the outcome depends on the value which civil servants place on inclusion. Echoing Miles’s law, “where you stand depends on where you sit,” we discuss how administrative structures and processes—“how you sit”—shape civil servants’ values on citizens’ participation. Using survey data from more than 1,700 civil servants in the Baltic countries, the article contributes by placing the discussion in the context of extreme social change.

AB - Citizen participation is disputed; some see it as enhancing democracy while others see it as undermining representative government. Some find it increases administrative efficiency, and others find it creates additional costs. Studies argue that the outcome depends on the value which civil servants place on inclusion. Echoing Miles’s law, “where you stand depends on where you sit,” we discuss how administrative structures and processes—“how you sit”—shape civil servants’ values on citizens’ participation. Using survey data from more than 1,700 civil servants in the Baltic countries, the article contributes by placing the discussion in the context of extreme social change.

KW - Latvia

KW - Lithuania

KW - citizens’ participation

KW - post-communist Estonia

KW - public administration

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84947912513&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/0095399714555753

DO - 10.1177/0095399714555753

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0095-3997

VL - 48

SP - 104

EP - 129

JO - Administration & Society

JF - Administration & Society

IS - 1

ER -