What Policy Actors Seek for: Reciprocal Misunderstanding of Objectives of Participatory Decision Making

The goal of this research is to explore different policy actors’ attitudes towards participation in public decision making. The paper examines objectives of external participants’ involvement and compares various participants’ judgements on the process and results of participation. We screened operation of formal networks of participatory decision making at the Lithuanian Ministries of Health and Education & Science. The research revealed the willingness of decision makers to allow different stakeholders to contribute to the solution of problems of diverse character. The results of interviews manifested reciprocal miscommunication towards objectives and results of participatory decision making. Public administrators demonstrated their high willingness to acquire expertise, while external participants sought to present specific interests and got them implemented as well. However, it has to be admitted that decision makers are not committed to the results generated by stakeholders.