Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Public Involvement in the Immigration Plan for the Nanji Islands, China

A centralized political context such as China provides a harsh environment for public involvement program that intends to share decision-making power with the public, however, there are still learning opportunities that can survive and prepare the public for a meaningful participation in the future. This article illustrates this point by designing a public involvement program that is implementable and educational in Nanji Islands, China. The public involvement program is designed to solve conflicts and tension regarding to an immigration plan between the public and local government and organized by a third party. It includes information sharing, public representatives election, and negotiation meeting between public representatives and governmental officials. The six-dimension framework from Alterman’s classic work is employed to test its feasibility within the local context.

Curtis VentrissEmail:

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Ganlin Huang   is a postdoctoral associate, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis. She received her Ph.D. from Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont. Her research focuses on community participation, resource management and environmental justice. She uses both qualitative (case study) and quantitative (statistics, GIS, and spatial analysis) research methods. Curtis Ventriss   is a Professor of Public Policy, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont. He is also an Adjunct Professor, Institute for Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins University where he teaches graduate courses in public policy and policy ethics. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford and Johns Hopkins University. He has published over 100 articles in public management and public policy and was the former Associate Editor of Public Administration Review.