POL 240
Fall 2015
A Review of The Potential for Public Empowerment through Government Organized Participation by Neal D. Buckwalter.
Section One:
This article develops a far better theoretical understanding of the linkage between the processes and results related to government-organized public participation, Moreover as its potential to convey power to citizens in guiding administrative decisions. Special focus is given to those factors that form the development and maintenance of the citizen–administrator relationship. The analysis examines the work of federally mandated citizen review panels and their interactions with state child protection agency administrators. Supported by findings in fifty-two in-depth interviews conducted …show more content…
Also, is there a link between participation mechanisms, participant capacity, and administrative responsiveness? One of the main things that his research is driven by is his fascination in Government-Mandated Citizen Participation. The modern origins of mandated participation in the United States reach back to the mid-twentieth century. This was a important time within the development of direct citizen inclusion in policy making and implementation. Research suggests that some forms of participation are more helpful to public empowerment than others, although widespread agreements on these outcomes have been intangible (Buckwalter 574). His research has to do with the prospects of leveling democracy's aims at openness and public inclusion with bureaucracy's focus on efficiency and expertise (Buckwalter, p.573). Citizen participation mechanisms are categorized as either citizen driven or government organized. Government organization is the main focus of this article, and it is most often the result of legislative mandate. Another main area that Buckwalter focuses on is seeking a link between citizens and administrators. In 1969, Sherry Arnstein described a spread of …show more content…
He uses many journals such as, the Public Administration Review, the Journal of Public Child Welfare, the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, the American Journal of Community Psychology, and the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Buckwalter also uses many research sources in his article, like The Art of Case Study Research, Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, and The Art of Case Study Research (Buckwalter, References Page). All of the methods that Buckwalter uses to conduct his research supports his ideas about of the linkage between the processes and results related to government-organized public participation, as well as its potential to give power to citizens in guiding administrative decisions. The one source that he uses for his article that I find extremely interesting, is the Public Administration Review. I find this interesting because Buckwalter himself is writing for the Public Administration Review. The fact that he uses sources from the journal that he is writing for, shows a great importance towards the Public Administration Review. It shows that it is an accredited source that authors are able to get accurate information from. It also shows that Buckwalter supports the information that the journal he writes for provides. By using the Public Administration Review as a source, Buckwalter is trying to extend his research. He is building onto the ideas from other