參與治理是趨勢？或是迷思？
陳恒鈞
《摘要》
政府隨著民眾需求的增加，在公共服務提供的角色扮演日益擴大。行政官僚在提供服務時，擁有相當程度的自主性，以致政策透 明度與開放性不足，公民卻無法對其予以課責。近來，此種作法遭受挑戰，尤其是來自不滿政府服務的公民，其主要訴求是直接參與 政府的服務提供。
傳統公共行政與新公共管理將公民視為被動接受政策結果的角色，忽略其對於民主發展與公共事務處理的貢獻。時至今日，眾多學者認為社會日趨複雜、多樣與動態性，著實無法依賴政府單獨承擔公共服務的責任，必須與私部門或第三部門共同承擔推動政策責任。然而，這是一項必然趨勢？抑或只是迷思？基此，本文所探討的問題將聚焦於公民參與決策的利弊分析。
本文主旨並非說明參與治理是一項迷思，而是以務實觀點進行 反思，強調在採行一項新理念之前，應以全觀性觀點，審慎思考其 可行性，避免產生東施效顰效果。事實上，我國在既有的政治文化 以及決策方式下，實施參與的治理情形，尚無法像西方國家普遍。 即使如此，本文仍建議政府應開放管道，俾利公民參與決策。果如此，兩造在互信基礎上，相互協商、學習，取得政策共識，將可提 升政策的信賴度與正當性。
[關鍵詞]：參與治理、民主行政、治理結構、官僚體制、市場競爭
What Is Participatory Governance? A Trend or a Myth
Hen-Chin Chen
Abstract
The role of government has expanded dramatically over the past few years in providing essential services to the general public. Seen in greater details, these services were made by government bureaucrats who possessed a high degree of autonomy but who were not directly accountable to the affected citizens. Recently, these trends have been challenged as many citizens are dissatisfied with the outcomes of services. The main method to improve this is through the direct inclusion of members of the public in state agencies.
A range of drivers has been identified to explain the popularity of participatory governance. However, are we witnessing a fundamental transformation or just the latest fad of public service? The purpose of this paper is to analyze the benefits and detriments of having citizens directly involved in decision-making regarding public affairs.
The argument here is not to suggest that participatory governance is a myth; rather, this paper intends to engage in a more realistic discussion, especially under the circumstances of political culture and the method of decision-making. Finally, this paper suggests that successfully engaging citizens in the policy-making process will enhance credibility and legitimacy.
Keywords: participatory governance, democratic administration, governance structure, bureaucratic system, market competition