Patterns of Elitism within Participatory Environmental Governance

John Parkins () and A John Sinclair
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A John Sinclair: Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Canada

Environment and Planning C, 2014, vol. 32, issue 4, 746-761

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.

Keywords: environmental governanace; participatory governance; democracy; elite; meaningful participation; Canada (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envirc:v:32:y:2014:i:4:p:746-761

DOI: 10.1068/c1293

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