Outsourcing local democracy? Evidence for and implications of the commercialisation of community engagement in Australian local government

ABSTRACT

Participatory governance practices are enjoying popularity, not least in local government. This is driven by legislation that requires councils to undertake some of these processes; also by communities and practitioners – parties that derive income from participatory governance. An industry is emerging: one characterised by demand and supply, with frameworks, strategies and processes, training and conferences. This industry warrants investigation so that its impacts upon local democracy can be understood. Following a theorisation of local democracy and community engagement, the paper describes the community engagement industry, presenting evidence about council activities, providers and professional associations to establish that the commercialisation of engagement is a significant phenomenon in Australian local government. Possible risks to local governance and local democracy are explored.

参与式治理实践颇有人望，尤其对于地方政府。立法机构推动此事，因为它要求州上院负责这些过程的一部分。社区和实践者也乐于促成，他们从参与式治理中得到收入。一个产业脱颖而出：有供需，有架构，有策略有程序，有培训有会议。该产业确保调查研究，这样它对地方民主的影响才能被理解。本文先对地方民主及社区参与做理论分析，再介绍社区参与产业，还根据州下院活动、提供者以及专业协会等等的情况指出，参与的商业化是澳大利亚地方政府的重要现象。笔者还讨论了地方治理和地方民主可能面临的风险。

KEYWORDS:

• Commercialisation
• community engagement
• local democracy
• local government
• public participation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Helen E. Christensen is an Industry Associate of the Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney and a community engagement practitioner.

Bligh Grant is Associate Professor at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney and Coordinator of the Master of Local Government Program.

ORCID

Helen E. Christensen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7770-1556

Bligh Grant http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8055-6046

Notes

1 Some processes may be counted twice if different respondents are recounting the same process. The survey also included people practising community engagement in other levels of government beyond local government.

2 The Journal of Public Deliberation has since absorbed the International Journal of Public Participation. The journal promotes itself as a journal ‘with the principal objective of synthesising the research, opinion, projects, experiments and academics and practitioners in the multi-disciplinary field of deliberative democracy’ (JPD n.d).