For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing ORice, Washington, D.C.20402 Preface iii In its 1976 legislation reenacting the General views are included as an appendix to this report, Revenue Sharing program for a second three-year along with a staff summary and evaluation of all period, Congress requested ACIR to prepare the comments received. The comment period several studies of fiscal decisionmaking in the extended from early December 1978 through mid- American federal system of government. Citizen March 1979. Many comments were received, participation, the topic of one of those studies, is some of considerable length and detail, and they the subject of this report. were helpful in revising our report. The number The draft report was prepared by the staff of recommendation options presented to the under its regular procedures which provide for Commission was doubled, and numerous critiques by the governmental research com- refinements in the background chapters were munity and others having special knowledge of made as a result of this consultation process. All the topic. Because of the nature of this topic, the comments received by the first of March were Commission also held a hearing on the draft fully reflected in information presented to the report at its regular meeting on December 7,1978. Commission prior to its action on this report. Following this hearing, the Commission deter- The Commission adopted the recommen- mined that opportunities should be provided for dations in this report and authorized its printing a broader range of views to be submitted on Friday, March 23, 1979. regarding the draft report. Comments received at the December hearing Abraham D. Beame and as a result of the subsequent solicitation of Chairman Acknowledgements Thisvolume was prepared by the governmental Hoewing, Judith May, Fred H. Pelzman, Jerry structure and functions section of the Commis- Delli Priscoli, , Nelson Rosenbaum, Laurence sion staff under the direction of Assistant Rutter, Toni Thomas, Susan Terrence, Francis Director David B. Walker. The following staff Viscount, Robert N. Wise, and Amelie Wogan. members were responsible for individual Some of these same people, plus a number of chapters: Chapters 1, 3, and 5, Bruce D. Mc- others, also participated in a formal hearing on Dowell; Chapter 2, David B. Walker; and Chapter the draft report (held December 7, 1978) and a 4, Albert J. Richter. Chapter 6 was a team effort. follow-up consultation process which extended Professor John Rehfuss of Northern Illinois from December 1978 through March 1979. University (now with California State Universi- Persons involved in this process are named in the ty, Sacramento) developed the 1978 survey of Appendicies to this report, and their names are local governments summarized in this report and not repeated here. contributed to Chapters 4 and 5. The Inter- The Commission gratefully acknowledges the national City Management Association provided assistance of all who assisted by their participa- survey design assistance and data processing tion in the local government survey, the survey of services for the survey of local governments. federal grant-administering agencies reported in Secretarial support was provided by Delores Chapter 4, the critics session, the hearing, and the A. Dawson, Bettyann Hodukavich, Evelyn M. consultation process. Final responsibility for the Hahn, Lynn C. Schwalje, and Linda S. Silberg. report and its contents, of course, rests with the Evelyn M. Hahn compiled several special state- Commission and its staff. by-state tabulations of the 1978 survey. Participating in a "critics session" to review Wayne F. Anderson the draft chapters and alternative recommen- Executive Director dations were: Mark Alger, Francis C. DeLucia, Marla Ewing, Mark Goldberg, Mark Grainer, Lee David B. Walker L. Gray, Walter Groszyk, Mary Hill, Lincoln Assistant Director Contents Chapter Page Preface .......................................................... iii Acknowledgment ................................................. v Summary ........................................................ 1 Introduction .................................................. 1 What is Citizen Participation? ................................... 1 Citizen Participation and the Federal Grant System ................. 3 Citizen Participation in the Federal Government's Own Activities .... 5 Citizen Participation and the States .............................. 6 State Open Meeting Laws .................................. 6 State Open Records Laws ................................... 7 Public Information in State Legislatures ....................... 7 State Administrative Procedures Acts ......................... 7 State Budget Processes ..................................... 7 Miscellaneous Provisions for State Citizen Participation ......... 7 Citizen Participation and Local Government ...................... 8 The Local Budget Process .................................. 8 Advisory Committees ...................................... 9 Citizen Surveys ........................................... 9 Initiatives and Referendums ..................................... 9 How Well Does It Work? ....................................... 12 Conclusion ................................................... 12 AClR Recommendations ........................................ 12 Recommendation 1. Citizen Participation at Each Level of Government 13 Recommendation 2 . Citizen Participation in Federal Aid Programs: A Positive and Consistent Federal Policy ........................... 14 I Introduction ...................................................... 17 The Purpose of This Study ...................................... 18 Intergovernmental Aspects of Citizen Participation ................. 18 Forms and Purposes of Citizen Participation ....................... 20 The Scope of This Report ....................................... 22 2 American Traditions of Citizen Participation ......................... 25 Theoryand Theorists ........................................... 25 The Classical Theorists and Citizen Participation ............... 25 The 20th Century Theorists and Citizen Participation ........... 30 Summary Assessment of Citizen Participation Theory: Contrasts and Commonalities ........................................ 39 Participation in Practice: Its Evolution ............................ 41 Expanding the Electorate ................................... 41 Democratizing the Nominating Process ....................... 45 Expanding Direct Popular Control of Governments ............. 49 Conclusion ................................................... 55 3 An Overview of Contemporary Citizen Participation .................. 61 The Diverse Forms and Purposes of Contemporary Citizen Participation 61 General Purposes of Citizen Participation ..................... 61 The Diversity of Specific Purposes of Citizen Participation ...... 62 Diverse Purposes of Citizen Participation Pursued by Diverse In- terests ................................................... 64 Diverse Forms of Citizen Participation ........................ 64 Relationships Between the Purposes and Forms of Citizen Partici- pation ................................................... 71 Who Gets Involved in Citizen Participation and Why? .......... 73 Special Techniques to Enhance Interactive Participation ........ 75 When to Use Citizen Participation ........................... 75 Programs in Which Citizen Participation is Used ............... 78 Comprehensive Participation Processes ....................... 83 Factors Considered in Developing Citizen Participation Processes 85 Evaluating the Forms of Citizen Participation .................. 86 Citizen Participation at the Various Levels of Government ........... 91 The Universality of Citizen Participation ...................... 91 Variations in Citizen Participation Among the Levels of Govern- ment .................................................... 91 4 Citizen Participation in the Administration of Federal Programs ......... 99 The Evolution of Policy on Citizen Participation in Federal Administra- tion ......................................................... 99 The Administrative Procedures Act ........................... 99 The Right to Participate .................................... 100 Broadening the Emphasis ................................... 100 The Sunshine Act .......................................... 101 Citizen Participation in the Federal Government's Own Activities .... 101 The Level of Federal Performance ........................... 102 Three Special "Institutional Remedies" ....................... 105 Recent Administration Initiatives ............................. 107 Summary ................................................. 108 Citizen Participation in Federal Aid Programs ..................... 109 A Brief History ............................................ 109 An Inventory of Citizen Participation Requirements in Federal Grant Programs ........................................... 112 Citizen Participation in Selected Grant Programs: Five Case Studies 132 The Impact of Citizen Participation Requirements: Some General Studies ................................................... 164 Summary ................................................. 174 4A Appendix: Citizen Participation Requirements Mandated by Statute or Regulation in Federal Grant Programs, by Program. Department or Agency. and Major Type of Requirement ...................................