Power, Participation, and Policy: The 'Emancipatory' Evolution of the 'Elite-Controlled' Policy Process

Power, Participation, and Policy proposes an alternative approach to making sense of popular participation in the policy process, in light of the subtle workings of power in society. This study, based on field research carried out in Nepal, illustrates that the policy process is implicated in a web of "cultural politics" experienced by different stakeholders, namely their daily struggles to suture rifts in their identities in the face of competing demands arising from their daily social interaction. The constant renegotiations of the overall policy direction among decision-makers, combined with the contested nature of the policy implementation on the ground, provide a fertile ground for ordinary people to exert leverage over the unfolding of policymaking. Masaki therefore draws the conclusion that a potential for the "emancipation" of ordinary people is immanent in the day-to-day flow of policymaking.