Historically, decisions affecting the general public have been made with input from selected people—those with responsibility for the decisions or with applicable technical expertise. Increasingly, the broader public is demanding more direct involvement in decisions that will affect their lives. Articulating the public's position on a given issue can be difficult as the “public” represents a broad spectrum of needs and desires that can conflict or change on any given issue. This article presents an analysis of the evolving role of the public in public decisions and offers a rigorous approach for eliciting usable information from the public.
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