dentify public concerns and values. Many techniques do this in a forum that is relatively open and straightforward.
3. To develop consensus among the impacted parties, users and those who pay. In difficult controversies, consensus is rarely achieved but is very satisfying when it is.
4. To create the greatest number of "unsurprised" apathetics. In many cases not everybody needs involvement or wants to be involved. Most people are peripherally involved. These people should not be surprised, rather, they should be informed.
5. To produce better decisions. Public consultation can produce better "technical" decisions than a strictly technically oriented decision process.
6. To enhance democratic practice. The democratic ideology which underlies the North American political structure has as a principle tenet the right to participate in decision making. Public consultation allows and promotes participation, thus avoiding the further issue that can arise when the public is excluded from a decision-making process.
Priscoli and Homenuckm suggest that at a practical level, public consultation programs should strive to isolate and make visible the extremes. In other words, the program should create incentives for participants to find a middle ground (Priscoli and Homenuckm, 1986 p 70).
Public participation is one means of decreasing tension and conflict over public policy decisions. A variety of techniques exist that solicit public input effectively. Planners and participants can derive a number of tangible benefits from an effective public involvement process. However, the expectations of planners and the public must be roughly equivalent for the process to be effective.
Recent planning models such as the Interactive Planning process described by Lang, incorporate public input in all phases of the planning process. Theoretically, involving interested publics in all phases of planning and decision-making will lead to better decisions.
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October 21, 2003