Public Encounters as Venues for Citizen Participation: Probation in Belgium as an Extreme Case to Study the ‘In-Between’

Ricotta, Anthony [UCL]

Public encounters, where street-level bureaucrats meet with citizens, have recently been approached as collaborative processes where citizens exercise agency. However, how they participate in public encounters remains unclear. To fill this gap, we focus on the “in-between” of public encounters, namely, on the practices of agents and citizens, and how they relate to affect the course and outcomes of these interactions. It allows to shed light on citizens’ participation and agency in public encounters. The Belgian probation sector is examined as an “extreme” case. We observed and analyzed 55 public encounters between probationers and their probation agent. Moreover, we conducted problem-centered interviews with most of the actors. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Even in the judicial sector, citizens participate in public service delivery. The results show that, in probation, public encounters may follow different dynamics (standardization, domination of probationers, opposition, and coelaboration). The analysis primarily reveals the decisive role of probationers’ relationship with the judiciary in the administrative burdens perceived and, subsequently, in their interactions with probation agents. Eventually, it is the democratization of public services in their daily functioning that is questioned in this paper.