INCLUSIVE DECISION MAKING: THE ONLINE COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN AS AN EXAMPLE OF PARTICIPATIVE POLICY

Abstract

For decades, national states have confronted various challenges to the democratic form of government. In such a highly complex frame, the question is, can public participation to policymaking still be a way to reach a more effective governance? In this chapter, I will attempt to demonstrate how inclusive bottom-up decision-making could improve the results of single projects and of wider European public policies. In the first part, I describe the European frame in which inclusive policymaking was born; then, in the second part, I analyse the Oltre project and its results as an example of participatory practices.