PARTICIPATORY DECISIONMAKING

Participatory decisionmaking is a value concept with a twofold emphasis. On the one hand, it measures to what extent the right of individuals and groups to be consulted in matters that will affect their lives is honored and, on the other, the extent to which they engage in social action that promotes the common good locally, nationally, and globally. In a society that values participatory decisionmaking, authentic opportunities are provided and structures devised to seek the input of concerned stakeholders in matters pertaining to the social and ecological good. Moreover, this input is taken into account in the final decisionmaking. At the same time, participatory decisionmaking is reflected in citizens’ engagement in these opportunities and in the initiatives they take to organize social action to protest violent, unjust, ecologically unsustainable practices. It is a value concept that motivates the development of policies and practices that are nonviolent, ecologically sustainable, and socially just for the present and future generations of the Earth community, both human and other living species, as well as all other endeavors to achieve the society envisioned by these value goals. Therefore, it stands in a means-end relationship to nonviolence, social justice, ecological sustainability and intergenerational equity.

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