Four powerful agencies that deal with environmental regulation–the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture–wanted to know whether involving citizens improves their decisions by tapping local knowledge and energy and increasing the legitimacy of outcomes, or whether citizens merely make things worse because they lack scientific knowledge. So the agencies (without a touch of irony) asked the experts at the National Research Council to review the evidence about public participation. The experts’ verdict was favorable: well-designed processes that involve the public produce better outcomes.
 |
 |
|
 |
||
| Read this FREE online! Full Book | PDF Summary |
||