Public participation and Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration policies: Mechanisms and development of e-participation (Virginia, Maryland)

Public participation has not only become a de facto norm in numerous environmental policy issues, it is also concomitant with democratic values. This dissertation examines the theoretical underpinnings of participatory theory and establishes criteria for evaluating participatory process developed from two strands of normative theory. Drawing from both democratic and critical theory, which can broadly be described as macro and micro approaches to participatory theory, four criteria for direct and meaningful participation are established: participation of lay people; two-way communication; shared collective decision-making; and better policies.; A survey of all 169 county governments in the Chesapeake Bay watershed was conducted, with a twenty-six question instrument being sent to local government officials in order to establish the extent of participatory activities. As hypothesized, the state that a county belongs to had a significant effect on half of the aspects of participation investigated. Other independent variables tested, namely population growth; distance from the Bay; urbanization; and type of local government showed little to no significant effect on participation. To test whether a county's participatory activities had any significant impact on policy outcome, participation was regressed against total nitrogen change (TN) between the period from 1985 to 1999. No statistically significant effect was found. Thirty four percent of the respondents named the Internet and ICTs (information and communication technology) as changing public participation in the future.; With respect to electronic participation, it was shown that the potential for direct and meaningful participation can be realized, but that as of yet, e-participation in the Bay watershed counties is limited to information dissemination with some collection of public opinions, and does not extend to two-way communication and deliberative processes. In September 2002, a total of 87% of Bay counties had a searchable website, with however little evidence of interactive public participation in Bay restoration policies. The trend towards combining traditional, innovative, and electronic participatory mechanisms to suit policy situations at a local level, mirrors a move towards local involvement and policy process promoted by the Chesapeake Bay Agreement.