Technologies of participation: designing consensus in the Better and Fairer Schools national review process

Abstract

This paper adopts a critical perspective that treats public participation in policy design not as a democratic ideal nor as a hollow ritual, but as a technology of governance: a set of tools, practices, and socio-technical arrangements through which governments structure reform, legitimise authority, and define policy possibilities. Drawing on governmentality and critical design studies, we develop the concept of ‘technologies of participation’ to describe how governments curate the terms of public engagement and set the discursive and material boundaries of reform. Using Australia’s ‘Review to Inform a Better and Fairer Education System’ as a case study, we show how participatory tools and ..