Public impact. Citizen influence in local government in Iceland

• Main Author: Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Stjórnmálafræði; Stjórnmál; Stjórnskipan; Stjórnsýsla; Borgaraleg réttindi; Lýðræði; Ísland; Fræðigreinar; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/9017

Fræðigrein Considering its importance in democratic theory, public impact on public policy is a strangely neglected theme in political science. The main theoretical traditions in political science, in fact, seem sceptical of claims that the public can influence public policy in a systematic manner. The present article is an attempt to consider the ways in which public impact may be studied and evaluated through a study of citizen influence in planning and environmental issues in Icelandic local government. The results indicate – even if only tentatively – that the impact of the citizens is greater than would be expected on the basis of the main theoretical traditions in political science.