Le consensus participatif. Les politiques de la démocratie dans quatre régions françaises
Why and how do the public authorities settle more and more "participatory" institutional settings? Based on a comparison between four types of regional-scale public offers of participation, this thesis provides some answers to this question. The diachronic study of forum French regional councils which have decided, from the mid 2000, to settle several participatory institutional-settings, according to various temporalities, rules and combinations reveals that the spread of this public offer leans on a consensus. Indeed, despite the heterogeneity of their aims and methods, the participatory institutional-settings that we study use the same technologies and instruments: lists of participants, specialized civil-servants and administrations and socio-demographic indicators which guarantee traceability are the main technologies. The systematic and consensual use of these instruments, whatever the region of the institutional-setting, could be interpreted through an analysis in terms of public participation and government. Yet, the participatory democracy is considered as a governmental "device", which aims to control and manage the political behavior of a growing number of citizens. The consequences of this governmental capacity are discussed, thanks to critical theories. We notably try to understand how the legal participation space could manage the political "flux" which emanate from society. ; Pourquoi et comment les autorités publiques multiplient-elles les dispositifs censés incarner leur engagement en matière de participation directe des citoyens au processus décisionnel ? C'est en s'appuyant sur une comparaison entre quatre offres publiques régionales de participation que cette thèse entend répondre à cette question. L'étude diachronique de quatre conseils régionaux français ayant décidé, au milieu des années 2000, d'adopter un ensemble de dispositifs participatifs, selon des temporalités, des modalités et des agencements différenciés permet ainsi de révéler l'existence d'un consensus concernant la ...