Yes / Within western cultures, the term `public participation¿ has strong positive connotations, and is associated with the promotion of democracy. The contention of this paper is that these invocations of democracy - although not entirely inaccurate - obscure the varied and tangible effects of public participation on wider policy processes. Drawing on Sharp and Connelly 2001, this paper argues that participation should not be analysed in terms of the type of democracy it invokes, but rather in terms of the extent and nature of its influence on the policy process. In particular, the policy process is examined for conflict between participants over (1) the extent of participation, (2) the nature of participation and (3) the influence of the participation, as well as (4) the outcomes to which it leads. This approach to the analysis of participation is demonstrated through a study of one element of participation in an authority¿s Local Agenda 21 process. The paper concludes that participation is inherently political and practitioners need to act strategically to manage participation in support of progressive agendas.

The thesis deals with the implementation of the Local Agenda 21 (LA21) method in the Czech Republic and the possible real change of municipal policy as a result of this method. The author chose four case studies for his research (Prague, Prague 10 city district, Prague 14 city district, Chrudim city) selected by the so-called "most different system design" method, ie successful municipalities on the one hand and unsuccessful on the other. In addition to this dichotomy, the author adds a perspective of different types of municipal system: city vs. city district. The methodology of the thesis is based on two pillars - content analysis of strategic documents and the current outputs of the individual municipal offices, and semi-structured interviews conducted by the author, which clearly shows that the LA21 method is a strongly political subject, depending on the current level of political support, which fundamentally influences whether or not real change of the municipal policy towards sustainable development at local level. The paper also directly identifies some of the institutional shortcomings of the LA21 method as it is set up today by the LA21 Working Group of the Government Council for Sustainable Development based on the principles of the United Nations global initiative from 1992. At the same...