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Patterns of Elitism within Participatory Environmental Governance

Author

Listed:
  • John R Parkins

    (Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, 515 General Services Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada)

  • A John Sinclair

    (Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Canada)

Abstract

A close examination of venues for participatory environmental governance reveals highly constrained settings for citizen engagement. This situation is documented within the broader social milieu by Skocpol as a narrowing of public life which is characterized in this paper by professional, stakeholder, and elitist forms of participatory environmental governance. Case-study evidence is presented from three different governance settings in Canada (environmental assessment, land-use planning, and forest management) identifying two distinct types of elitism: elite representation by design and elite representation by procedure. Two options are presented as a response to this analysis. One option involves accepting elitism by strengthening the linkages between stakeholders and constituencies, and the other option involves fighting elitism by drawing on modes of community-based decision, deliberative activism, and promoting research that highlights the consequences of environmental elitism.

Suggested Citation

  • John R Parkins & A John Sinclair, 2014. "Patterns of Elitism within Participatory Environmental Governance," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(4), pages 746-761, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:32:y:2014:i:4:p:746-761
    DOI: 10.1068/c1293
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Magnette, 2003. "European Governance and Civic Participation: Beyond Elitist Citizenship?," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 51(1), pages 144-160, March.
    2. John Parkins, 2006. "De-centering environmental governance: A short history and analysis of democratic processes in the forest sector of Alberta, Canada," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 39(2), pages 183-202, June.
    3. Lars H. Gulbrandsen, 2004. "Overlapping Public and Private Governance: Can Forest Certification Fill the Gaps in the Global Forest Regime?," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 4(2), pages 75-99, May.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Natarajan, L. & Rydin, Y. & Lock, S.J. & Lee, M., 2018. "Navigating the participatory processes of renewable energy infrastructure regulation: A ‘local participant perspective’ on the NSIPs regime in England and Wales," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 201-210.
    3. Healy, Hali, 2023. "Pulp and participation: Assessing the legitimacy of participatory environmental governance in Umkomaas, South Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    4. Ernst, Anna & Shamon, Hawal, 2020. "Public participation in the German energy transformation: Examining empirically relevant factors of participation decisions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    5. Van Assche, Kristof & Gruezmacher, Monica & Summers, Bob & Culling, Joshua & Gajjar, Shaival & Granzow, Michael & Lowerre, Andrew & Deacon, Leith & Candlish, Jared & Jamwal, Abhimanyu, 2022. "Land use policy and community strategy. Factors enabling and hampering integrated local strategy in Alberta, Canada," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    6. Alex Osei-Kojo & Nathan Andrews, 2016. "Questioning the Status Quo: Can Stakeholder Participation Improve Implementation of Small-Scale Mining Laws in Ghana?," Resources, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-16, November.
    7. Erik Glaas & Mattias Hjerpe & Martin Karlson & Tina-Simone Neset, 2020. "Visualization for Citizen Participation: User Perceptions on a Mainstreamed Online Participatory Tool and Its Usefulness for Climate Change Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, January.

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