Political Science/Geography and Environmental Studies Public Talk
Why don’t those people show up at my meetings? Public participation, equity, and inclusion
Jill K. Clark
Fulbright Research Chair in North American Politics
Department of Political Science, Carleton University
Assoc. Prof., John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Ohio State University

As the public’s mistrust of government increases and its participation in public affairs declines, local governments are seeking new ways of involving community members in public decision making. Some efforts are specifically focused on increasing the voices of low-income and other marginalized groups. However, participation is still inequitable and the environments within which people participate remain non-inclusive. In this talk, I will present two related studies to address gaps in our understanding of equity and inclusion in public participation. The first study changes the question from “how do we get people to the table?” to “who is building the table in the first place?” This mix-methods study, using data from communities across the United States, illustrates the relationship between who has the power to design participation opportunities and the equity and inclusion in the design itself. The second study takes a step back and provides a broader understanding of power in public participation design, expanding our understanding of different forms of power and how they work for and against equity and inclusion.