Who Joins a Forum—And Who Does Not?—Evaluating Drivers of Forum Participation in Polycentric Governance Systems

作者：Mario Angst, Jack Mewhirter, Danielle McLaughlin, Manuel Fischer · 发表于：Public Administration Review · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1111/puar.13427 · 被引用次数：45 · 研究领域：Policy Transfer and Learning、Public Policy and Administration Research、Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

Abstract In polycentric governance systems, decisions that influence a given policy issue are often made across a series of forums: venues where actors meet to resolve collective action problems. Here, we examine who does and does not participate in forums, and the factors driving that participation. We analyze forum participation patterns of 307 actors involved in Swiss water governance, who could participate in water governance forums. We find that the majority of actors do not participate in any forums. Results from a Bayesian multilevel logistic regression model show that especially those concerned with a broader range of policy issues and those that have more organizational resources at their disposal are more likely to participate. To a lesser extent, this also holds for organizations that represent policy beliefs consistent with median beliefs in the system. A belief that increased cross‐sectoral coordination is needed to promote more effective governance does not have a discernible impact on participation. These results question the integrative characteristics often attributed to forums in polycentric governance more generally .