'Just because we are amateurs doesn't mean we aren't professional': the importance of expert activists in tenant participation

• Published in: Public administration (London) Vol. 83; no. 3; pp. 735 - 751
• Main Author: Millward, Liz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK; Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Inc 01-08-2005; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Citizens; Government; Motivation; Participation; Public policy; Studies; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 0033-3298; 1467-9299
• DOI: 10.1111/j.0033-3298.2005.00472.x

The current UK government is committed to extending participation in civil society, with the aim of significantly increasing volunteer numbers by 2005. It has put much effort into attracting ‘representative participants’, particularly from traditionally under‐represented groups. ‘Natural joiners’ attract far less interest and are often written off as ‘the same old faces’. But the growth in opportunities for participation has actually encouraged the natural joiners because the nature of much modern participation requires people like them. Focusing on natural joiners and their motivations rather than looking at why the non‐joiners don’t join, should increase understanding of why people participate and suggest new ways forward. This article looks at people active in tenant participation – a case study of a government ‘Sounding Board’ and some preliminary results of a survey of activists. There are some unexpected findings, including that the motivations of natural joiners are close to those of career professionals in the same field, and that interest in the ‘subject’ of participation may be a motivator, rather than an outcome.