Participatory science governance revisited: normative expectations versus empirical evidence

In a comparative study in seven European countries, the impact of participatory decision-making procedures on the communicative construction of citizenship was studied. Oral and written data from licensing procedures on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been analysed with methods of conversation analysis. The study shows that participatory science governance itself may cause serious trouble when it is embedded in a formal procedure with a relatively strong legal framework. Political communication becomes rather marginal under such circumstances. This result indicates that the unspecific claim for more and broader participation of the public might be dysfunctional, even if it seems to be legitimate from a normative point of view.