A systematic review of the public administration literature to identify how to increase public engagement and participation with local governance

• Published date: 01 May 2019
• Author: Josephine Gatti Schafer
• Date: 01 May 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1873

ACADEMIC PAPER

A systematic review of the public administration literature to

identify how to increase public engagement and participation

with local governance

Josephine Gatti Schafer

Department of Political Science, Kansas State

University, Manhattan, Kansas

Correspondence

Josephine Gatti Schafer, Department of

Political Science, Kansas State University, 802

Mid Campus Dr. South, 115 Calvin Hall,

Manhattan, KS 66506.

Email: jgschafer@ksu.edu

Present Address

Josephine Gatti Schafer, Center for Public

Affairs Research, University of Nebraska at

Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 108 CPACS 6001

Dodge Street Omaha, NE 68182

402.554.2133 Email: jgschafer@unomaha.edu

A systematic review of the public administration literature on public engagement and

participation is conducted with the expressed intent to develop an actionable evi-

dence base for public managers. Over 900 articles, in nine peer‐reviewed public

administration journals are screened on the topic. The evidence from 40 articles is

classified, summarized, and applied to inform the managerial practice of activating

and recruiting the participation of the public in the affairs of local governance. The

review also provides brief explanation on how systematic reviews can fill a need in

governance from the evidence‐based management perspective.

1|INTRODUCTION

Public engagement and participation are critical topics in the

literatures of governance and public administration (Nabatchi, 2012;

Bryson, Crosby, & Bloomberg, 2014; Fung, 2015) for a variety of rea-

sons, including, their practical relevance (Escobar, 2017, Escobar,

2013; Dourse et al., 2016). Given the importance of government

engagement with the public, it appears prescient to examine what

we know about how to engage—the practices taken by agents of gov-

ernance to shape the drivers and challenges for individuals to partici-

pate (Ryfe & Stalburg, 2012). Yet no one has conducted a systematic

review and synthesis of the evidence with the expressed intent to

identify and apply evidence to practice.

I seek to identify what we know about how to increase the atten-

tion, attendance, and participation of the public in the affairs of local

government. This review is more narrow compared with others that

broadly examine multiple rationales, mediums, and outcomes of

engagement (Bingham, Nabatchi, & O'Leary, 2005; Carpini, Cook, &

Jacobs, 2004; Nabatchi, 2010; Nabatchi & Amsler, 2014; Rowe &

Frewer, 2005). Instead, the review is guided by the developing fields

of evidence‐based management (Rousseau, 2006) and behavioral

public administration (Grimmelikhuijsen, Jilke, Olsen, & Tummers,

2017) in that the review is undertaken for the explicit purposes of pro-

viding an actionable and useable evidence base to inform practice

(Jilke, Van de Walle, & Kim, 2016; Lavis, Robertson, Woodside,

McLeod, & Abelson, 2003).

2|FRAMEWORK

Evidence‐based management is the act of translating principals derived

from science into the practices of organizing and managing (Rousseau,

2006). The premise for this style of management is that the adoption

of clear and well evidenced‐based practices will be more likely to pro-

duce the results expected as compared with practices that are less well

evidenced, for instance, anecdotal, instinctual, and limited or localized

experience (Cairney, Oliver, & Wellstead, 2016). A variety of efforts

exist to support the application of evidence‐based management to

government; however, the research practice gaps are still largely evi-

dent throughout governance (Head, Ferguson, Cherney, & Boreham,

2014; Landry, Lamari, & Amara, 2003; Lundin & Öberg, 2014).

Research on the dissemination and application of evidence to prac-

tice have highlighted the role systematic reviews can play in filling the

research practice gap (Boaz & Pawson, 2005; Lavis et al., 2005; Levin,

2013).However, in order to influencepractice, reviewsmust be carefully

focused and formulated with the expressed intent to disentangle the

influence of contextual factors on behavioral change (Jilke et al., 2016;

Mulrow, 1994; Pawson, 2002; Tranfield, Denyer, & Smart, 2003) and

develop actionable messages for decision makers (Lavis et al., 2003).

For instance, Dobbins, Cockerill, and Barnsley (2001) demonstrate

increased useof evidence in practice when systematic reviews are pro-

vided to practitioners. Logic models provide a particularly acute way of

focusing systematic reviews for building a management evidence base

(Andersonet al., 2011; Pawson, Greenhalgh,Harvey, & Walshe, 2005).

Received: 7 May 2018 Revised: 18 June 2018 Accepted: 27 September 2018

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1873

J Public Affairs. 2019;19:e1873.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1873

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of11