The Construction of General Public Interest: Risk, Legitimacy, and Power in a Public Hearing
| Autor: | Cagri Topal |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | OpenMETU |
| Rok vydání: | 2009 |
| Předmět: |
Value (ethics)
Government Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management business.industry media_common.quotation_subject Strategy and Management ComputingMilieux_LEGALASPECTSOFCOMPUTING Public administration Public relations Democracy Public interest Power (social and political) Legitimation Management of Technology and Innovation Sociology Ideology business Legitimacy media_common |
| Popis: | The decisions of the economic actors in late modern society produce risks in addition to products and services. Thus, the parties likely to be affected by those decisions — individuals, communities, and society at large — seek to influence them. Public hearings are a key forum in society where this influence occurs. This paper uses a case study of a hearing to show how public hearings use legitimating practices to enact institutional power although they are commonly portrayed as risk-minimizing democratic mechanisms. Public hearings enact participation that is formal not substantive, create `public good' that serves particular not general interests, and use evaluation which is normative or value-based and not rational. Public hearings thus legitimate government and corporate institutions through the demonstration of citizen participation, general interest, and rational evaluation. These processes enact ideological or image-based legitimation by constructing an image of the general public. This legitimation is illusory but effective for enacting state and corporate power. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|