From Citizen Participation to Participatory Governance in Australian Local Government

Abstract

This paper identifies types of citizen participatio n in local government in Australia, in particular focusing on the past two decades when local government systems have been the focus of intense reform. The paper co nsiders the extent to which contemporary views of participatory governance have taken root at local and sublocal levels and concludes that despite reforms int ended to engage local citizens more in local government activity, citizen particip ation has yet to develop significantly into arrangements that reach the leve l of participatory governance. It also argues that for participatory governance to be further developed, leadership may often have to come from organisations outside i nstitutional local government.