Policy Reviews and Essays

There has been a recent tendency to assume a "natural" congruence between democratic decision procedures and sound substantive environmental policy outcomes. Although development agencies and activists alike advocate participatory policy for dealing with environmental problems, a critical evaluation of theories of participatory democracy in developing countries is yet to be undertaken. This article seeks to redress this gap by examining the impact of social stratification on participatory environmental policymaking. Based on a review of existing case-studies, it argues that given the existence of heterogeneous populations and population disparities in terms of urbanization, literacy levels, and so on in developing areas, participatory natural resource policies may not be truly participatory and may in fact prove to be detrimental to the interests of the marginalized groups in society. By analyzing the implications of a community forestry program for rural women in India, this article explores the application of participatory environmental policies in developing countries.