Public participation is a common ideal of democracy advocates.
But that ideal is often abused by participatory activities that are deadening or ineffective. To be truly democratic and wise, we need to address the quality and power of participatory activities.
Principles of Public Participation - Here are two leading sets of guidelines from The International Association for Public Participation and The Community Development Society -- with some additions and reframings from the Co-Intelligence Institute.
Designing Multi-Process Public Participation Programs - No single form of public dialogue and deliberation can adequately provide all the qualites we need for wise democratic engagement. But how should we go about selecting and combining diverse processes and approaches?