7 
In lieu of effective participatory procedures citizens 
are increasingly taking their concerns to the courts and to 
the ballot box, defining participation through direct protest. 
Litigation has become a major channel of public involvement, 
especially in environmental policy. Between 1970 and 1975, 
there were 332 suits against federal agencies for inadequate 
EIS reports. Only 64 were sustained, but the threat of liti- 
gation has remained a powerful participatory tool.^ 
The referendum is a form of direct citizen participation 
that may effectively pre-empt administrative authority. Refer- 
enda are a prominent and increasing feature of the United States 
political landscape, ranging from issues such as property taxes 
to airport expansion or nuclear power plant development.^ 
Twenty-one states have methods for placing issues on the ballot 
by obtaining a given number of signatures. Twenty-three states 
as well as hundreds of cities permit direct legislation by voting, 
and 38 states have some form of referenda allowing voters to 
review laws passed by the legislature. These procedures en- 
courage citizens to develop legislation or to repeal existing laws. 
The Problems with Participatory Reforms 
Administrative agencies implement participatory mechanisms 
with ambivalence. On the one hand, deeply-rooted democratic 
values hold that the public has a "right" to information and 
that more direct citizen involvement will reduce conflict and 
improve the reasonableness of decision-making. On the other 
hand, the role of expertise remains central to assuring the 
efficiency of administrative procedures. Agencies fear that 
participatory measures will only encourage demands from self- 
appointed public representatives who lack any significant 
technical knowledge and who can seriously obstruct the decision- 
making process by costly delays and short-sighted decisions. 
Ambivalence is shown by procedural biases that limit implemen- 
tation of participatory objectives. 
[A-116] 
