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Tracing the sources of legitimacy: the impact of deliberation in participatory natural resource management

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  • Simon Birnbaum

  • Örjan Bodin
  • Annica Sandström

Abstract

It is widely assumed that stakeholder participation has great potential to improve the perceived legitimacy of natural resource management (NRM) and that the deliberative-democratic qualities of participatory procedures are central to the prospects of success. However, attempts to measure the actual effects of deliberation on the perceived legitimacy of participatory NRM are rare. This article examines the links between deliberation and legitimacy in participatory NRM empirically by tracing the determinants of stakeholders’ level of policy support and their views about procedural fairness. The study uses statistical methods to analyse survey data from a state-led initiative to develop new plans for ecosystem-based coastal and marine management through a participatory approach in five coastal areas in Sweden. We find that the perceived quality of deliberation had a positive impact on these aspects of legitimacy. However, both policy support and perceived procedural fairness were mainly driven by instrumental-substantive considerations rather than deliberative-democratic qualities of the process. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Birnbaum & Örjan Bodin & Annica Sandström, 2015. "Tracing the sources of legitimacy: the impact of deliberation in participatory natural resource management," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 48(4), pages 443-461, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:48:y:2015:i:4:p:443-461
    DOI: 10.1007/s11077-015-9230-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sandström, Annica & Bodin, Örjan & Crona, Beatrice, 2015. "Network Governance from the top – The case of ecosystem-based coastal and marine management," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 57-63.
    2. Jentoft, Svein, 2000. "Legitimacy and disappointment in fisheries management," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 141-148, March.
    3. Dryzek, John S. & List, Christian, 2003. "Social Choice Theory and Deliberative Democracy: A Reconciliation," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 1-28, January.
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    1. Rebecca Romsdahl & Gwendolyn Blue & Andrei Kirilenko, 2018. "Action on climate change requires deliberative framing at local governance level," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 277-287, August.
    2. Plummer, Ryan & Baird, Julia & Dzyundzyak, Angela & Armitage, Derek & Bodin, Örjan & Schultz, Lisen, 2017. "Is Adaptive Co-management Delivering? Examining Relationships Between Collaboration, Learning and Outcomes in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 79-88.
    3. Timotijevic, Lada & Khan, Shumaisa S. & Raats, Monique & Braun, Susanne, 2019. "Research priority setting in food and health domain: European stakeholder beliefs about legitimacy criteria and processes," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 116-124.
    4. Insa Theesfeld & Tom Dufhues & Gertrud Buchenrieder, 2017. "The effects of rules on local political decision-making processes: How can rules facilitate participation?," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 50(4), pages 675-696, December.
    5. Siangulube, Freddie S. & Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A.F. & Reed, James & Moombe, Kaala. B. & Sunderland, Terry, 2023. "Multistakeholder platforms for integrated landscape governance: The case of Kalomo District, Zambia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    6. Yeboah-Assiamah, Emmanuel & Muller, Kobus & Domfeh, Kwame Ameyaw, 2016. "Rising to the challenge: A framework for optimising value in collaborative natural resource governance," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 20-29.
    7. Hannah Whitley, 2024. "Exogenous, Endogenous, and Peripheral Actors: A Situational Analysis of Stakeholder Inclusion within Transboundary Water Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-28, April.
    8. Zuo, Cai & Huang, Xian, 2025. "Benefit or procedure? Determinants of perceived distributive fairness in rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    9. Bert Fraussen & Adrià Albareda & Caelesta Braun, 2020. "Conceptualizing consultation approaches: identifying combinations of consultation tools and analyzing their implications for stakeholder diversity," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(3), pages 473-493, September.
    10. Siangulube, Freddie & Ros-Tonen, Mirjam & Reed, James & Moombe, Kaala & Sunderland, Terence, 2023. "Multistakeholder platforms for integrated landscape governance: The case of Kalomo District, Zambia," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute.

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