Diseño curricular

Within a global context, South Africa seems to define 'public participation' similarly to the way Canada for example, does, which is to encourage good governance and engage citizens to actively participate in Parliament (Armit, 2007). This captures the notion of a representative Parliament whereby "citizens vote at general elections to ensure that their voices are heard through party list representation with Members of Parliament (MPs) representing diverse societies through their constituencies".

However, this form of public participation today does not seem to satisfy the need of the public whose voice needs to be heard who wants to be actively involved in governance processes (Armit, 2007). It is therefore apparent that governments such as those of Canada and South Africa are striving to respond to the people‟s needs by making significant efforts to connect with the public and engage with citizens (Armit, 2007). It is encouraging to note that governments are responding positively in order to enhance public participation. However, how much has been done to address this demand and how effective have the efforts been?

Austria

The Austrian Council of Ministers (ACM) developed standards for public participation (ACM, 2008). The ACM has developed standards for public participation aimed at maximising the effectiveness and efficiency of public participation which they believe will ultimately contribute to good governance in Austria. The objectives of these standards are mainly to promote the sharing of information and experiences. At the same time people are encouraged to express differing opinions in order to promote diversity and further enhance the quality and the transparency of decision-making. ACM (2008) is of the opinion that with effective and increased public consultation it maximises public trust in politics and public administration. This in turn

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helps to avoid delays and extra costs when implementing policies and programme plans which optimise the use of resources.

ACM has included principles for public participation such as involvement, transparency, joint responsibility, balance and equal opportunity, mutual respect, fairness, information sharing, and feedback. These principles inform the standards of public participation which include performance standards and quality standards (ACM, 2008). The idea is to involve citizens and interest groups in decision-making which can also be assessed in terms of the quality and extent of public participation and recommends public participation especially when many people are affected or interested in a topic.

Canada

Public participation in Canada is rooted in a democratic theory as well as in the evolution of the Canadian parliament. But most importantly it is based on the premise that better results are achieved when those most affected are included in decision-making (Watling, 2007: 2). Canada has adopted three categories of public participation, namely public communication; public consultation and public participation; and public engagement (Watling, 2007). Public communication is regarded as a passive means of communication whereby the public is informed through mechanisms such as websites, brochures, government notices and the media. Public consultation is usually a one-way flow from the public to the government, which includes mechanisms such as public hearings, referendums, and focus groups. Public consultation provides the public with an opportunity to express their views on policies or issues at hand.

Public participation and engagement allows for interaction between members of the public, and between the public and government. This type of interaction includes conferences, dialogues, and citizen panels, which are all structured and controlled. This elicits expert advice and recommendations as well as resolutions. It is evident that all three methods are required for effective public participation because the public first needs to be informed and educated about the topic in order for them to engage in dialogue or effectively participate in public hearings.

58 Europe

One of the pillars of democracy is the contribution of citizens to political decision-making.

However, public participation has been restricted to political elections whereby citizens vote once every five years and the elected representatives make the majority of the decisions (European Institute for Public Participation, 2009). It became clear that citizens may not be completely satisfied with such restricted participation. This led to new thoughts around active citizenship and a participatory democracy approach, which promotes more active involvement on the part of citizens regarding decision-making processes (European Institute for Public Participation, 2009). The European Institute for Public Participation defines public participation as a deliberate process whereby interested or affected citizens and interest groups are involved in policy-making before political decisions are taken, and this promotes active citizenship (European Institute for Public Participation, 2009:6).

Public participation in Europe promotes the notion of deliberation in order to make a difference in the way citizens understand or see their role in the democratic process. In other words, deliberation is not just about voting or stating an opinion and focuses on providing and receiving information, and on consultation and public participation (European Institute for Public Participation, 2009). Providing information ensures that information reaches a large proportion of citizens. This assists the citizens to engage with the information at various levels. Consultation involves both the interested public and the politicians, and the public is encouraged to provide views on consultation documents such as green papers and white papers (European Institute for Public Participation, 2009). Public participation involves sharing information and deliberation, which ultimately can persuade people to change their minds or reach consensus regarding decision-making, which in turn helps to resolve contentious issues.

Africa

Many African countries have identified public participation as an integral part of their developing democracies. This is evident from their membership of the African Union (AU). The 53 Africa States as members of the AU have committed themselves to foster citizen participation and transparency in governance (Public Service Commission, 2008).

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Uganda has initiated various policy frameworks to promote public participation where opportunities are created for citizens to articulate their needs and influence programme- planning and implementation (Public Service Commission, 2008).

In Ghana, government invited the public to participate in a diagnostic survey and set out various strategies to combat corruption (Public Service Commission, 2008). Various public institutions and civil society advocacy groups were established to purposefully combat corruption. Members of the public were afforded the opportunity to attend public hearings and write submissions in efforts to find effective strategies to combat corruption.

The essence of the global perspectives on public participation lies within the notion by Anderson (2000) that suggests that citizen participation, even in democratic states, is limited due to many barriers including age, gender or area of residence. In other words, regardless of the nature of citizen participation in the diverse contexts many citizens remain to be experiencing limitations to participation in democratic processes.