Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

For the People: Power Distribution and the Development of Political Identity in State Lands Management

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/xg94hz054

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  • Purposive stakeholder involvement in public lands management has grown in the United States in recent decades as government bodies have initiated advisory groups in addition to public comment modalities of participation. While advisory groups and collaboratives on federal lands have been studied extensively, much less is known about network governance as it pertains to state lands management. In particular, the role of power dynamics in state-level network governance is an articulated gap in scientific understanding. Through a comparative case study of state-convened advisory groups in New York’s High Peaks Region and Oregon’s Elliott State Forest, I explore the extent to which these network governance efforts distribute power as well as how participants characterize their impacts. I conducted semi-structured interviews and document analysis to collect and analyze qualitative data on four dimensions of power (formal authority, resources, discursive legitimacy, and trust) and five dimensions of democracy (access, public deliberation, adaptability, accountability, and political identities). Results indicate that while power is overwhelmingly held by the state in establishing advisory groups, its distribution is more nuanced through the process phase. Additionally, process participants broadly developed political identities through these efforts. However, the extent to which participants impacted management outcomes and were empowered varied both across and between cases. My findings reflect a lack of equity both in terms of who held and developed power as well as who impacted management decisions and developed empowerment through the studied network governance efforts. To address these inequities, I recommend that those with authority over network governance efforts implement mechanisms for explicit power sharing within them.
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