The Use of Market Metaphors in Public Participation Discourse

The use of market metaphors in public participation discourse is analyzed with the focus on the reliance on business roles — i.e., customer, owner, investor and employee — to explain citizen-administrator relations. An argument is made that each of these metaphors distorts the nature of citizenship to some extent. Owner/investor metaphors are more appropriate nevertheless because of the meaning they confer on citizenship in relation to active/passive and individuals/community oriented dimensions and the use of voice or exit.