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The Public Hearing as an Effective Citizen Participation Mechanism: A Case Study of the General Revenue Sharing Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Richard L. Cole  and
David A. Caputo
Richard L. Cole
Affiliation:
The University of Texas at Arlington
David A. Caputo
Affiliation:
Purdue University
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Abstract

Students of citizen participation in public affairs disagree as to the effectiveness of such citizen involvement. Using the General Revenue Sharing program as a case study and applying techniques of both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis, this article examines the effectiveness of one form of citizen participation, the public hearing. It is found that in the revenue-sharing program, the public hearing did have an immediate, but only short-term, impact on levels of public interest and citizen involvement. Evidence to support some short-term and some long-term effects on reported expenditure decisions is presented; however, these impacts generally are found to be inconsequential and not statistically significant. It is concluded that, as a form of citizen participation, the public hearing—at least as demonstrated in the General Revenue Sharing program—has not had much of an impact on citizen behavior or policy choices.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 78 , Issue 2 , June 1984 , pp. 404 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1984

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