Research project: Citizen Participation (2007-2008)

Commissioner: Federal Public Service Home Affairs - General Directorate Security and Prevention

Relevance

To achieve a local and integrated security policy, the contribution of citizens is important. From the perspective of the government, the citizen can be involved as a detector of problems, interlocutor, monitor, supplier of ideas, co-administrator, etc.
It is assumed that citizen participation will lead to an improved service, a reduction of the gap between the government and the citizen and an increase in the confidence of the citizen in the government. However, the relationship between participation and trust in the government is ambiguous. On the one hand, citizen participation can contribute to citizens feeling that police action is more legitimate. On the other hand, an increase in citizen involvement can also induce distrust when created expectations can not be attained. It is therefore necessary to design citizen participation in a sound way to meet the needs of both the government and (groups of) citizens.

Purpose and content

We focus on the following research question: how to gear expectations and objectives of citizen participation concerning security policy to one another in a successful way and how to elaborate an approach that is appropriate for all the actors?
Based on the research, a tool will be developed to help the local forces and authorities to realize citizen participation.

Methodology

We will study which specific projects of citizen participation concerning security policy are already being undertaken in Belgium and which projects are successful. A number of domestic and foreign cases will be selected and analysed in a more profound way. We will focus on the design, preparation and implementation of the participation project and on the development of cooperation with local actors.

Research team

supervisor: prof. dr. Marleen Brans
co-supervisors: prof. dr. Jeroen Maesschalck, Prof. dr. Dave Gelders
research assistant: Nathalie Colsoul
The researchers are linked with the Public Management Institute, the research unit Penal Law and Criminology, or the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, KU Leuven