The participation of the stakeholders, especially the beneficiaries of public policy, has become an essential part of the policy development process. In the past, the decision-making process failed to include stakeholders who are most affected by the policies that were being crafted then. This resulted in “Type III errors” or solving the wrong problems in the stage of problem structuring (Jordan and Turnpenny, 2015). This type of error encourages the use of a participatory approach to policy development.

Participatory policy making is a general approach which facilitates the inclusion of various stakeholders in the design of policies through consultative or participatory means to ensure accountability, transparency, and active citizenship. Participatory policy making can either be top-down, i.e., the government initiating the policymaking, or bottom-up, i.e., a particular stakeholder group seeking to influence a specific policy. It can also be initiated by external bodies such as international development organizations and donors. The government and these organizations play a significant role in opening political space, creating the right conditions, and setting up the necessary structures and processes to enable participatory policy making. On the other hand, it is the civil society organizations (CSOs) that help raise awareness about the issues at stake, help citizens and communities organize themselves, and advocate for more participatory policymaking (Rietbergen-McCracken, n.d.).

Crafting effective and appropriate policies requires diverse and complex information and expertise, and participation presents a wider range of information, ideas, perspectives, and experiences to the process. Popular participation likewise helps build grassroots capacity to effectively voice out their needs and concerns, while allowing the government to recognize multiple views and address sometimes conflicting perspectives. People participation can also reconcile competing agendas, mediate conflicting interests, and balance the concerns of all interested persons and affected parties. It likewise enhances the constituencies’ sense of ownership and commitment to policy objectives, which increases support for and involvement in policy implementation, including supporting legislation and project design. These would then result to better legislation and projects that are effectively enforced and successfully completed. Yet participation also presents real costs and risks. It requires time and resources, thereby affecting schedules and budgets. As it often involves incorporating stakeholder interests into decisions, popular participation can also raise expectations, which are not all met. Participation can also trigger conflicts among different stakeholders if not ensured across the board and resulting in an unequal distribution of benefits (Veit, 1998).