Setting the stage: scenic design and observers’ perceptions of the quality of public governance meetings

ABSTRACT

Whilst the importance of securing effective governance has been widely researched, seating configurations and the design of governance settings have not. Taking a dramaturgical perspective, this paper uses the conceptual language of scenic design to examine the relationship between meeting size, seating configurations, actor positioning and perceptions of public governance quality in UK council meetings. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, the paper finds strong support that those involved in public governance feel that seating configurations and actor positioning are important considerations and that these factors can help to explain variation in perceptions of meetings’ public governance quality.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Rhys Andrews, Cardiff Business School for his valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper, together with the anonymous referees. All errors or omissions are of course the responsibility of the authors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We note here that the n in our quantitative analysis varies somewhat and is typically lower than 324. This is because of instances in the data where some, but not all, aspects of the meeting being analysed were completed in the survey response. In such instances, these observations are excluded from regression analysis, hence the variation in our n across different models.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Catherine Farrell

Catherine Farrell is an Senior Lecturer in Cardiff Business School who is actively involved in teaching and research within the public management and leadership fields. Catherine is Programme Director for the University’s MSc Public Leadership programme and leads modules in ‘Contemporary Challenges’ and ‘Leadership and Professional Development’. In terms of her research, Catherine is interested in public boards and their governance. Her current research is focused on governance in a range of services including education and fire and rescue. She has published widely on leadership and governance in a range of public services and has published in journals including Public Administration, Human Relations, Organizations, Work, Employment and Society and Public Policy and Administration.

Dave McKenna

Dave McKenna is an Honorary Research Fellow at Swansea University as well as an associate with the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny and the Institute of Local Government Studies. As a practitioner, Dave is an independent consultant and researcher who supports councils and other public bodies with training, research and improvement work. Dave’s areas of expertise include scrutiny and governance, policy development, collaboration and public participation. He has over 25 years of local government experience including managing supporting local government councillors. He completed his PhD in local politics and public participation in 2015.

Matt Wall

Matt Wall is an Associate Professor in Politics at Swansea University, where he currently teaches courses on the philosophy of research, comparative politics and electoral politics. Research interests include digital politics; electoral campaigns; electoral system effects and reform; Vote Advice Application (VAA) websites and Irish politics. He has published several research articles and book chapters on these topics in publications including The British Journal of Political Science, Public Opinion Quarterly; Electoral Studies, Party Politics, Parliamentary Affairs, The Journal of Information Technology and Politics, The Journal of E-Governance and The Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties.