The Politics of Consultation

In the age of post-truth politics, public confidence in politicians is at crisis point. The profile of public consultation has never been higher, its purpose never more important. Single-use plastics. Fixed-odds betting terminals. Additional runways at overcrowded airports. Local government devolution. High-speed rail links. New nuclear power stations. All have featured as the subject of controversial consultations as politicians seek to find ways of keeping their election promises and public bodies seek to find ways of managing a process that is vulnerable to legal challenge, media distortion and political interference. In The Politics of Consultation, the founders of the Consultaiton Institute cut through the spin to examine hundreds of mostly well-meaning attempts to respond to greater demands for public participation in decision-making. Taking a risk of their own, they propose approaches that could see an end to these matters being fought over in court.