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Participation and Policy: Exploring the Social Action Museum by Christopher Gunter B.B.A. (Finance), University of New Brunswick, 2008 M.Phil. (Policy Studies), University of New Brunswick, 2010 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Ph.D. in Public Administration (Public Policy) in the department of Public Administration Supervisor: Jonathan Paquette, Ph.D., Public Administration Examining Board: Nathalie Burlone, Ph.D., Public Administration Christian Rouillard, Ph.D., Public Administration Emily Wills, Ph.D., Political Studies External Examiner: Yuha Jung, Assistant Professor of Arts Administration, The University of Kentucky This thesis, dissertation or report is accepted by the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA © Christopher Gunter, Ottawa, Canada, 2018 ABSTRACT The relationship between government and the public in policymakng has been plagued with democratic deficits in the policymaking process, which include: the inherent manipulative political system (Birch, 1972), the innate nature of the public and their preferences (Fung, 2006A), the public’s exclusion in the implementation of policy (Edwards & Sharkansky, 1978; Nakamura & Smallwood, 1980), and the general inability to effectively hold politicians and public administers to account for their policy implementation (Pressman & Wildavsky, 1984). With these democratic deficits in mind, one question emerges: how can members of the public alleviate these public participation problems? In other words, how can public interests be represented in the policymaking process? The object of study in this dissertation is l’écomusée (or ecomuseum), an institutional movement based on the development of small local and community-owned and managed museums that claim to be in service to society by influencing public policy. It is the aim of this dissertation to understand how the community museum (following ecomusée) is trying to articulate change as a policy intermediary for local communities. In doing so, this dissertation also seeks to uncover the ecomuseum’s discursive practices and strategies, and how it generally aims to socially enhance communities. This thesis contributes to empirical knowledge on public participation. Through four empirical Canadian ecomuseum case studies, this research explores: 1) the intellectual history of the ecomuseum movement, and 2) the role of ecomuseums and their claims to public participation – all the while acting as intermediary agents claiming to embody social ideas about the public good. From a public policy lens, the aim of this study is to ii discover how each case study defines and implements public participation, who is involved, and how their contributions (policy ideas) circulate from the ecomuseum to the government. In other words, this study explores what discursive practices the ecomuseum engage in, and how they address the democratic gap in public policymaking. Although this research does not aim to evaluate the ecomuseum’s potential to socially enhance communities or to serve as an intermediate policymaker, it does illustrate how the ecomuseum has led to the cultivation of a variety of institutional practices – including initiatives to engage the public, efforts to mobilise local actors and resources, and collective involvement in public consultations. Key words: new museology, l’écomusée, civic engagement, community participation, public policy, cultural policy iii DEDICATION To my mentor and friend, Jonathan Paquette. For believing in me when others did not. "Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark, for the straight forward pathway had been lost." - Dante Alighieri iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Since the start of this journey way back at the beginning of my bachelor’s, there have been a number of people along the way who have helped or been an influence, and who need to be thanked. First, my three intellectual influences of life: Keith Culver, Emery Hyslop-Margison, and my current supervisor, Jonathan Paquette. Together, they have inspired me, advised me, and encouraged me from start to finish. Second, my dissertation committee, Christian Rouillard, Natalie Burlone, Emily Wills, and Yuha Jung, for their time in ensuring that the quality of my work never slipped. Third and fourth, Geneviève Tellier for classroom her insightful lectures, generous advice, and reference letters, and Gail Pétrin for all the administrative assistance and moral support over the years. Fifth and sixth, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and the Ontario government for their financial support. Seventh, my colleagues and friends, Devin Beauregard, Pierre St-Jacques, Ahmed Dassouki, Mathieu Rejyal, Samantha Feder, Robin Nelson, and Chantal Battah, for their inspiring conversations, and advice. I would like to thank Devin, in particular, for his hard work in helping me edit my thesis. I would also like Kay Jordan for her kind words and support during my defense. Finally, I would like to thank my mother Lolita, father Hans, and sister Monica, for all their kindness and support throughout the years. v Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION .............................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... v Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................ x List of Symbols, Nomenclature or Abbreviations ........................................................ xii Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Challenges and Issues in Public Participation ............................................................ 8 Museums and public policy...................................................................................... 15 Classical museums: instruments of social change and public service ................. 16 Government and museum management ............................................................... 17 Communities and museums ................................................................................. 19 Questions to consider ............................................................................................... 20 Dissertation Plan ...................................................................................................... 23 I: Theory ....................................................................................................................... 27 Chapter 1: Conceptual Framework .............................................................................. 28 1.1 Ruptures and revolutions: a new way of thinking about policy and museums .. 34 1.2 An archaeology of science and knowledge ........................................................ 37 1.3 Putting it in context: Discursive formations ....................................................... 41 1.4 Operationalizing the method in public administration ....................................... 45 1.5 Scholarly coordinates ......................................................................................... 54 Chapter 2: Research Method ........................................................................................ 59 2.1 Data collection.................................................................................................... 59 2.2 Case studies ........................................................................................................ 61 2.3 Data analysis and process ................................................................................... 64 II: The Evolution of the Museum’s Public Mission: A Social and Historical Perspective ........................................................................................................................ 67 Chapter 3: Museums For the Public ............................................................................. 68 3.1 Museums Pre-1940s: A practice of collecting and displaying royal power ....... 69 3.2 Classical Museology 1940s-1960s: A discipline of museums ........................... 72 3.21 An internally-focused discipline .................................................................. 75 3.22 ‘Professionalism’.......................................................................................... 78 3.23 Disciplining the public ................................................................................. 84 3.3 Canada’s elites: building a ‘civilised’ public through culture............................ 87 3.4 Trudeau and Malraux: decentralisation and democratisation ............................ 93 3.5 The oppressed public: more than empty vessels .............................................. 100 3.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 107 vi Chapter 4: Museums For Society ............................................................................... 109 4.1 A Turning