Problem:
Public participation has a legitimizing effect and the potential to produce a higher level of commitment to the resulting decisions. Increased satisfaction, support, and acceptance might occur because the public believes managers better understand the public's wishes and that managers have used information gathered from the public to make better decisions, or that the procedures are fair.
What efforts would you as a public administrator use to increase public participation in the policy formulation process? Are there any dangers and/or difficulties that exist by increasing public participation? If so what are they and how would you deal with them?