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AbstractA central ideal in community localism is the notion of participatory devolution; that citizens ought to be engaged, supported and included in local decision-making. Community localism views participatory engagement as a vital ingredient in the quest to empower communities and enliven local democracy. Yet, critics argue that, in practice, many participatory initiatives inspired by community localism fail to empower citizens because they represent one-off consultation exercises with limited devolution of responsibility or control. This paper contributes to this debate by examining how participatory devolution is enacted in the messy world of local governance. It focuses on the use of a participatory mechanism that has received little attention in localism debates, the delegated citizen committee. These are committees composed of volunteer citizens who have formal devolved power to manage local assets, such as public halls or sporting fields, and, in some cases, to make decisions on broader policy issues. Drawing on the experiences of a local government in Victoria, Australia, the article asks what work do delegated citizen committees do?; who participates?; what issues do they affect?; and how are they supported? The study finds that, in practice, many delegated citizen committees have devolved responsibility to perform managerial and administrative services, but, paradoxically, they have limited influence on the broader functioning of local democracy.Keywords: localismcommunity localismdevolutionparticipatory devolutioncitizen participationcitizen empowermentcitizen committeeslocal government AcknowledgementsThe authors acknowledge the support for this study from newDemocracy Foundation and the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG). We also wish to thank the partner council and the research participants for providing invaluable empirical evidence about this form of devolved governance.Notes on contributorsDr Carolyn M. Hendriks is a Senior Lecturer at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. Her research examines democratic practices of contemporary governance particularly with respect to public deliberation, inclusion and political representation.Dr Annie Bolitho is a consultant at Annie Bolitho & Associates, a consultancy that undertakes community and stakeholder engagement. Her research interests are in community governance and the social dimensions of climate change.Mr. Chad Foulkes is the coordinator for Healthy Together Geelong for the City of Greater Geelong. He has worked with deliberative forms of citizen engagement in the context of local government, as well as in research institutes and as a consultant. His current work on complex adaptive systems builds on his substantive experience with community input into local decision-making.Notes1. There does not appear to be a standard term or definition of what we refer to in this article as 'citizen committees'. For example, in Australia and the USA, citizen committees are variously referred to as citizen review panels, citizen advisory committees, appointed public volunteer boards, public advisory committees and public liaison committees.2. See for example, Lynn and Kartez (Citation1995), Cornwall and Coelho (Citation2007), Baud and Nainan (Citation2008), Dougherty and Easton (Citation2011), Rebori (Citation2011), Chattopadhyay (Citation2012).3. Personal Communication, Employee from Local Government Victoria, 10 July 2013.4. As far as we are aware, the history of delegated citizen committees in Victoria has not yet been documented. Our account builds on insights from interviews conducted during October and November 2012 with policy actors closely associated with Victorian Local government. Our discussion is also informed by secondary material sourced from relevant State government departments, local councils and Victoria's State Library.5. Interview with former Local Government Victoria bureaucrat, Melbourne, 31 October 2012.6. Interview with former Local Government bureaucrat, Melbourne, 31 October 2012, and telephone interview with two former Town Clerks, 21 and 28 November 2012.7. Interview with former Local Government Victoria bureaucrat, Melbourne, 31 October 2012.8. More details on this research project can be found in Bolitho, Hendriks, and Foulkes (Citation2012).9. Interview with Communication Recreation Officer #1, Council Offices, 31 May 2011.10. Interviews with Coordinator Statutory Planning, Manager Planning and Development, Focus Group with Planning Committee, Council Offices, 1 June 2011.11. Focus Group with three committee members (community centre committee), Community Centre, 8 August 2011.12. Interview with Communication Recreation Officer #1, Council Offices, 31 May 2011.13. This quote is drawn from the case study councils Annual Report 2010–2011. To protect the anonymity of the council, we have not provided the full citation.14. Interview with Coordinator Statutory Planning, Council Offices, 1 June 2011.15. Interview with Communication Recreation Officer #1, Council Offices, 31 May 2011.16. Interview with a committee member (recreation area committee), Community Hall 1, 8 August 2011.17. Focus Group with two committee members (community hall committee), Community Hall 2, 8 August 2011.18. Interview with Coordinator Tourism, Marketing and Promotion, Council Offices, 31 May 2011.19. Interview with Manager, Community Relations, Council Offices, 1 June 2011.20. Interview with Communication Recreation Officer #2, Council Offices, 31 May 2011.21. Focus Group with two committee members (community hall committee), Community Hall 3, 8 August 2011.22. Interview with a committee member (recreation area committee), Recreation Site, 8 August 2011.23. Focus Group with five committee members (community hall committee), Community Hall 4, 8 August 2011.24. Interview with Manager Planning and Development, Council Offices, 31 May 2011.

Localism and the paradox of devolution: delegated citizen committees in Victoria, Australia