Skip to content
You are not logged in |Login  
     
Limit search to available items
Record:   Prev Next
Resources
More Information
Bestseller
BestsellerE-book
Author Stewart, Jenny.

Title Dilemmas of engagement : the role of consultation in governance / Jenny Stewart.

Publication Info. Acton, A.C.T. : ANU E Press, 2009.

Item Status

Description 1 online resource.
data file
Series ANZSOG monograph series
ANZSOG (Series)
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references.
Contents Conceptualising engagement -- Why engage? -- The 'how' of engagement: contexts and achievements -- What works for managers? Cases studies from the field -- Improving consultation practice -- Risks, opportunities and challenges.
Summary 'Consultation' has become something of a mantra in contemporary governance. Governments well understand that policy occurs in a highly contestable environment in which there are multiple, and often competing interests. They well recognise the political imperative to 'engage' stakeholders in order to manage potential conflict and, hopefully, obtain acceptance for their policies and programs. As a result, politicians and public officials frequently emphasise the need for consultation as an essential element of the deliberative processes underpinning the development of policy or the implementation of programs and services. But, moving beyond the rhetoric of consultation and engagement, how well is it done? In this monograph, Professor Jenny Stewart maps out the principal approaches used by governments to consult with and engage affected communities of interest. Stewart critically assesses the available literature and draws directly upon the experiences of political actors, bureaucrats and community sector organisations in order to identify the 'good, bad, and the ugly' of engagement. Through a judicious use of selected case studies, Stewart distils the essential dilemmas and contradictions inherent in many consultation strategies and highlights their relative strengths and weaknesses. This monograph is a probing and dispassionate analysis of the rationales, methodologies and outcomes of consultation and engagement. It is not intended to be a 'cookbook' or a 'how to' manual for those consulting or the consulted. Nevertheless, there is much here for the policy practitioner, the researcher and members of those 'communities of interest' who might, one day, find themselves the target of engagement.
Local Note JSTOR Books at JSTOR Open Access
Subject Political planning -- Citizen participation.
Political planning -- Citizen participation.
Political participation -- Australia.
Political participation.
Australia.
Policy sciences.
Policy sciences.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Other Form: Print version: Stewart, Jenny, 1950- Dilemmas of engagement. Acton, A.C.T. : ANU E Press, 2009 9781921536823 (OCoLC)351377781
ISBN 9781921536830 (electronic book)
1921536837 (electronic book)
1921536837
9781921536823 (print)