Barriers Of Participation Essay

Base on the analysis above, we identified there are three barriers that make the lack of public participation in decision making. The barriers are the nature of life in contemporary society, administrative processes and current practices and techniques of participation.

Nature of life in contemporary society

The barriers stemming from the practical realities of daily life are tied to the social class position of citizens and include factors like transportation, time constraints, family structure, number of family members in the labor force, child care, and economic disadvantages. Some people express a desire to participate more fully in their communities, but the demands of day-to-day life get in the way. We as one of citizen in this country, thinks that a lot of people are holding down two jobs and both people work in the family and are too tired trying to survive a day at a time. The focus group members compared an idealized past where civic participation was common and visible, to the present, where it is nearly impossible to fit participation into an over-crowded schedule.

We believe that participation from the public limited by lack of education, informally family and community and formally in school. There

The most ineffective technique is the public hearing. Public hearings do not work. Low attendance at public hearings is often construed as ~ublic apathy or silent approval of the status quo (Kathlene and Martin, 1991). In actuality, low attendance is more likely to be related to the structure of public hearings. Administrators recognize that the structure of public hearings and public meetings prohibits meaningful exchange. A major problem is the timing of public hearings. They are often held late in the process, when decisions have already been made. Administrators should always close themselves to the citizen to convey what needs to be dealt