ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief overview of public participation, leading into a discussion of the most common rationales or justifications for involving citizens in risk assessment and risk management. It then summarizes research examining key issues to consider in the design and implementation of public participation, which includes a review of related developments in the decision sciences and the use of decision aids to improve the quality of deliberative risk judgments. Although some public participation efforts can satisfy instrumental, normative, and substantive criteria, it is often the case that a given participatory approach places greater emphasis on one criteria over others. Risk communication can be designed to help participants recognize and address common problems that people often face when presented with complex choices in unfamiliar contexts. Helping participants to distinguish between means and ends objectives also allows for greater creativity in identifying alternatives for evaluation in decision making.
