Public Participation in Public Policy Process – Case Study in Seven Counties from North-Western Region of Romania

Abstract

Public participation is an ever significant notion of modern governance. In the light of lower levelsof citizen turnout at elections, contemporarydemocracies face a growing and complex problemof legitimacy. In this sense, in the last decademore and more governments around Europe andUSA turn to new strategies and plans to reach thecommunity they represent and encourage activeparticipation in solving community problems. It isin this note that the present pilot study “Initiativesand Design of Public Policy” was conducted, aimingto evaluate the level of public participation of fourprofessional categories (lawyers, doctors, teachersand managers) in the design and formulation ofpolicy proposals and identify the factors thatinfluence their level of involvement. The studywas conducted in seven counties in the North-Western Region of Romania using a conveniencesample of 250 individuals. Data gathered showsthat involvement is low in all four categories withlawyers topping the list surprisingly. Moreover wehave identified certain drawbacks about currentlegal framework for sustaining public involvementwhich negatively affects the level of publicparticipation. Even though the data is provisionaland is representative only for the study populationthe results are in line with other studies on thismatter which show little public participation in thepolicy process.