title: Patterns of public participation.
abstract: Purpose - The paper summarizes data from 12 countries, chosen to exhibit wide variation, on the role and place of public participation in the setting of priorities. The purpose of this paper is to exhibit cross-national patterns in respect of public participation, linking those differences to institutional features of the countries concerned. Design/methodology/approach - The approach is an example of case-orientated qualitative assessment of participation practices. It derives its data from the presentation of country case studies by experts on each system. The country cases are located within the historical development of democracy in each country. Findings - Patterns of participation are widely variable. Participation that is effective through routinized institutional processes appears to be inversely related to contestatory participation that uses political mobilization to challenge the legitimacy of the priority setting process. No system has resolved the conceptual ambiguities that are implicit in the idea of public participation. Originality/value - The paper draws on a unique collection of country case studies in participatory practice in prioritization, supplementing existing published sources. In showing that contestatory participation plays an important role in a sub-set of these countries it makes an important contribution to the field because it broadens the debate about public participation in priority setting beyond the use of minipublics and the observation of public representatives on decision-making bodies.
authors.affiliation: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slutsky
authors.affiliation: Bioethics Centre, Department of General Practice & Rural Health, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tumilty
authors.affiliation: Catherine Max Consulting: The Future Health Partnership, London, UK.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Max
authors.affiliation: School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lanting
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program, Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Sripen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tantivess
authors.affiliation: Center for Technological Development in Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renata Curi
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Hauegen
authors.affiliation: Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK and School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Whitty
authors.affiliation: Department of Political Science, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weale
authors.affiliation: The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Steven D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and Priceless SA, Wits School of Public Health, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Aviva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tugendhaft
authors.affiliation: School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hufeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: RCN Research Institute, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Staniszewska
authors.affiliation: National Medicines Regulatory Authority of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Krisantha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Weerasuriya
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jeonghoon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cubillos
mesh_terms: D003256:Community Participation / Q000379:methods*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D006292:Health Priorities; D038622:Internationality; D036301:Qualitative Research; D040841:Resource Allocation
keywords: Contestatory participation; Cross-national comparisons; Priority setting; Public participation; Resource allocation