Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Public Involvement in the Immigration Plan for the Nanji Islands, China

A centralized political context such as China provides a harsh environment for public involvement program that intends to share decision-making power with the public, however, there are still learning opportunities that can survive and prepare the public for a meaningful participation in the future. This article illustrates this point by designing a public involvement program that is implementable and educational in Nanji Islands, China. The public involvement program is designed to solve conflicts and tension regarding to an immigration plan between the public and local government and organized by a third party. It includes information sharing, public representatives election, and negotiation meeting between public representatives and governmental officials. The six-dimension framework from Alterman’s classic work is employed to test its feasibility within the local context.