CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Stubryte, Zivile |
|---|---|
| Title | THE LAW OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION IN REGULATORY AND LEGISLATIVE PROCESSES IN THE UNITED STATES, UNITED KINGDOM AND THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA |
| Summary | The thesis seeks to determine the effects of the role of law when framing the opportunities for public consultation in government policy and decision-making. The focus is to examine how requirements for decision-makers to hold public consultation enable meaningful participation by interested individuals in decision-making processes leading to a more responsive, professional and less intrusive regulatory government. The first chapter provides a detailed account of theories of deliberative and participatory democracy, which advocate for transformation of representative institutions. It concludes with an observation that it is worth investigating the existing consultative opportunities in decision-making processes in order to determine whether such transformations are necessary. The second chapter investigates the developments of law of public consultation taking as a benchmark the criteria for ideal participation and deliberation. The results of the analysis reveal that the nature and scope of consultative obligations are predetermined on such factors as the subject matter and the impact of the decision on an individual or the public in general. In this respect the third and fourth chapters examine consultative processes in particular regulatory areas to determine the similarities and differences of enforcement of participatory rights as well as their impact on regulated industries. The fifth and final chapter determines how different legal structures recognize participatory rights, and under what conditions consultative obligations can remedy the flaws of representative democracy. The thesis aims to contribute to the existing debates about transforming representative democracy through introduction of participatory and deliberative mechanisms. The dissertation suggests that in the US, the UK and South Africa the existing legal frameworks are capable of facilitating public participation and deliberation through consultative obligations which reinvigorate representative democracy. |
| Supervisor | Hamilton Michael |
| Department | Legal Studies PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/stubryte_zivile.pdf |
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