وفي معظم المجتمعات الديمقراطية، أصبحت مشاركة الجمهور آلية تكفل ليس فقط إسماع صوته قبل اتخاذ القرارات الكبرى، بل تتيح له أيضا فرصة التأثير على القرارات من بداية عملية اعتمادها إلى نهايتها.
In most democratic societies, public participation was the mechanism by which the public was not only heard before major decisions were made but also in which it was given the opportunity to influence such decisions from beginning to end of the adoption process.