Theory and practice of public meetings

Public meetings are among the most commonly used, frequently criticized, yet least understood methods of public participation in community planning. Although systematic research on public meetings is sparse, a vast, if fragmented, amount of experiential knowledge exists, and that can form the basis for a working theory of why some public meetings work and others do not. Characteristics of successful public meetings can be generally grouped by whether they relate to the process or the outcomes of public participation. Although a relationship exists, extant research would suggest that successful processes do not always lead to successful outcomes; however, officials interviewed for this study tended to equate successful outcomes with successful processes. Officials' satisfaction with public meetings seemed to be more tied to outcomes, and most officials were only moderately satisfied with public meetings.