<p>This report is a case study of “citizen forums” in the municipality of Uppsala. These forums are arranged to make people participate more in local politics. The aim of this study is to find out if the opinions and the wishes coming from the citizens are later involved in the planning process etc made by the authorities. The aim is also to explain why or why not the opinions from the citizens are of any importance.</p><p>My empirical data come from interviews that I have made with seven different respondents, both politicians and civil servants. More specifically I study three different forums and all the seven respondents have been present on at least one of these forums. As a theoretical ground I use different explanations for and against the importance of the citizen’s opinions. These theoretical explanations are constructed out of different theories.</p><p>The study shows that the importance of the citizen’s opinions may vary. Sometimes the authorities listen to the opinions, sometimes the do not. The main explanation why they don’t listen is political and economical factors. The wishes from the citizens are too expensive. The main explanations why the municipal do listen are mostly a mix of two different explanations. The authorities feel insecure about the preferences of the citizens. It also seems like many opinions from the citizens are rather clever and may help the authorities to make the municipal activities run better.</p>

This report is a case study of “citizen forums” in the municipality of Uppsala. These forums are arranged to make people participate more in local politics. The aim of this study is to find out if the opinions and the wishes coming from the citizens are later involved in the planning process etc made by the authorities. The aim is also to explain why or why not the opinions from the citizens are of any importance. My empirical data come from interviews that I have made with seven different respondents, both politicians and civil servants. More specifically I study three different forums and all the seven respondents have been present on at least one of these forums. As a theoretical ground I use different explanations for and against the importance of the citizen’s opinions. These theoretical explanations are constructed out of different theories. The study shows that the importance of the citizen’s opinions may vary. Sometimes the authorities listen to the opinions, sometimes the do not. The main explanation why they don’t listen is political and economical factors. The wishes from the citizens are too expensive. The main explanations why the municipal do listen are mostly a mix of two different explanations. The authorities feel insecure about the preferences of the citizens. It also seems like many opinions from the citizens are rather clever and may help the authorities to make the municipal activities run better.