The Future of Citizen Participation in Public Decision-Making in the Netherlands

Abstract

This master’s thesis explores the future of citizen participation in public decision-making in the Netherlands. Citizen participation is regarded as an important aspect of the Dutch democracy since it is used to gain insights into what the citizens consider important. Currently, there is scarce scientific literature on the future of citizen participation. Besides most literature focuses on a specific case or method instead of the broader system of citizen participation. This thesis addresses this research gap by exploring scientific literature and interviewing thirteen leading Dutch practitioners.

Based on the resulting insights, it can be derived how citizen participation can be improved in the future. The findings indicate that digitalization and the rise of co-creation are two main developments that are going to impact citizen participation in the future. Policymakers should anticipate on these developments by adapting to digital developments and a changing participation need of citizens instead of ignoring it. Important challenges are the communication between policymakers and citizens and the lack of inclusiveness. These challenges can be addressed by using different participation methods that align with the needs of different groups of citizens, and encourage open and clear communication from policymakers towards citizens about the participation process. Another relevant finding is that practitioners emphasise the normative and substantive objectives of citizen participation, while instrumental objectives are barely identified.

This thesis emphasises the importance of discussing the role of citizens in different participation processes. Disagreement among practitioners about the general purpose and function of citizen participation in the Dutch democracy is not likely to be resolved. Hence it is important to keep addressing this during participation processes, because practitioners do agree upon the fact that citizen participation has added value.

Limitations of this research include the validity and the generalisability of this research. Validity can be anticipated on by conducting more interviews and a more extensive literature research. The generalisability can be improved by conducting similar research in different context and from the perspective of citizens instead of policymakers.

Key recommendations for practitioners include the fact that policymakers should be aware of the value of citizen participation, and they should experiment with (combining) different participation methods.