2021/08/11 by Ludo Glimmerveen, Sierk Ybema, Henk Nies
Social Sciences · #Foucault, Power, and Ethics #Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering #Public Policy and Administration Research
paper · doi:10.1177/00953997211034137
openalex publication_date 2021/08/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Highlighting public-service actors’ deliberately tokenistic or self-serving efforts, existing literature has shown that public participation often involves the co-optation of sympathetic citizens. In contrast, our study demonstrates that participatory advocates may discredit and marginalize critical voices despite their own inclusive, democratic ideals. We analyze the entangled legitimacy claims of participating citizens and “inviting” public-service actors, capturing (a) the often-unintended dynamics through which the inclusion of particular participants legitimizes the exclusion of others, while illuminating (b) the tenacious propensity of participatory initiatives to establish “constructive cooperation” as the norm for participation and, subsequently, to normalize exclusionary practices.