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LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

For many are called, but few are chosen - Citizen Participation in Lund Municipality

Alvesson Due Billing, Miha LU (2013) STVK02 20122
Department of Political Science
Abstract
On all levels of government, politicians try to find solutions to our environmental
problems. Municipalities in countries create action plans according to the Agenda
21, approved in 1992. This agenda encouraged the involvement of citizens from
below and many took that to their hearts. Lund municipality in Sweden is one of
them.
The theory used in this thesis is deliberative democracy. It is applied through
studying citizen participation in the policy process leading up to the
municipality’s latest environmental document, LundaEko. Through in-depth
interviews I could draw the conclusion that citizen participation was not a big part
of the process. The participation did not meet the conditions for a fully
deliberative... (More)
On all levels of government, politicians try to find solutions to our environmental
problems. Municipalities in countries create action plans according to the Agenda
21, approved in 1992. This agenda encouraged the involvement of citizens from
below and many took that to their hearts. Lund municipality in Sweden is one of
them.
The theory used in this thesis is deliberative democracy. It is applied through
studying citizen participation in the policy process leading up to the
municipality’s latest environmental document, LundaEko. Through in-depth
interviews I could draw the conclusion that citizen participation was not a big part
of the process. The participation did not meet the conditions for a fully
deliberative process. It consequently did not influence the decisions in a
significant manner. The municipality pursued legitimacy in the process, but
whether they gained it is not entirely studied. The efficiency was influenced by
disagreements among the politicians rather than by the participation of citizens.
To conclude, we need further discussions about the relevance of citizen
participation, according to deliberative democracy, in today’s democratic society. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Alvesson Due Billing, Miha LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK02 20122
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
policy process, deliberative democracy, citizen participation, environment, local government
language
English
id
3357943
date added to LUP
2013-02-05 14:35:17
date last changed
2013-02-05 14:35:17
@misc{3357943,
  abstract     = {{On all levels of government, politicians try to find solutions to our environmental 
problems. Municipalities in countries create action plans according to the Agenda 
21, approved in 1992. This agenda encouraged the involvement of citizens from 
below and many took that to their hearts. Lund municipality in Sweden is one of 
them. 
The theory used in this thesis is deliberative democracy. It is applied through 
studying citizen participation in the policy process leading up to the 
municipality’s latest environmental document, LundaEko. Through in-depth 
interviews I could draw the conclusion that citizen participation was not a big part 
of the process. The participation did not meet the conditions for a fully 
deliberative process. It consequently did not influence the decisions in a 
significant manner. The municipality pursued legitimacy in the process, but 
whether they gained it is not entirely studied. The efficiency was influenced by 
disagreements among the politicians rather than by the participation of citizens. 
To conclude, we need further discussions about the relevance of citizen 
participation, according to deliberative democracy, in today’s democratic society.}},
  author       = {{Alvesson Due Billing, Miha}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{For many are called, but few are chosen - Citizen Participation in Lund Municipality}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}