preview

Australian Social Norms

Better Essays
Open Document

What is the Relationship between Social Norms and Democratic Participation as they relate to Australian Water Management Policy? 1. Introduction This paper discusses the role of social norms and democratic participation in the success of environmental policies in the Australian context. A robust definition of democratic participation has been adopted. Herein it means the public and organisations having input into decisions which affect society beyond merely participating in elections and other similar political processes (Fishkin 2011). Social norms influence how people behave, and are influenced by both experiences, social interaction and education. There are two types of social norms - injunctive and descriptive - which when addressed on …show more content…

Water management is a state-based issue. Constituents must be prepared to alter water use per the allocation to their State. A way for participants to contribute democratically to this process is to sit on State decision making committees, giving direct advocacy and advice to policy makers about how water can best be distributed and conserved. However, that would unfortunately only directly involve a small number of experts. What is required is a broader involvement of the population through advocacy in education (not just through formal teaching but dialogue between “students” and “teachers” as well), increasing awareness and water conservation culture at work, and other social arenas which will influence social norms. In Australia, such campaigns are active and they have been effective to an extent at changing social norms about water use. Thus, although it is illegal to use water in some ways (due to governmental decision making), and these laws are poorly policed, people still refrain being seen to use water irresponsibly because of the social norm to use water …show more content…

Often, experts and politicians blame the public’s lack of education about an issue or technology for their lack of acceptance for an environmental project, and its subsequent failure (Stenekes 2006, p. 107). However, this attitude draws a distinction between experts and lay people and is counterproductive. It also neglects the fact that institutions may have little or poor public consultation to explain and discuss complex issues and solutions before trying to implement solutions. Better public consultation and engagement would be more effective at gaining public acceptance for new environmental initiatives. For example, despite the public being highly conscious of water shortages as stated above, and citizens being open to daily use of recycled water in theory, a strong mental and social consciousness about the link between water and perceived health risk is blamed for a much lower level of support for actual use of recycled water (Stenekes 2006) Thus, the public has repeatedly rejected water-recycling technology as undesirable because media attention focuses on the less publicly desirable recycling of effluent (Stenekes 2006). However, treated storm water, dry water and industrial discharges would also

Get Access