風險溝通與民主參與：以竹科宜蘭基地之設置為例

Public participation and risk communication have become important components in environmental decision-making processes. However, public opposition and mistrust during risk communication often cripple policy-making processes. This case study examines risk communications on high-tech environmental controversies in three public forums (an Environmental Impact Assessment public hearing, a social protest, and a citizens' conference). This paper argues that policy-makers' technocratic tendency prevents them from communicating effectively with the public about environmental risk. Although avenues of public participation have increased, risk communication has not really improved, and the current policy-making mechanism addresses the issue of risk management insufficiently and lacks a design for better communication. This paper concludes that deliberative democracy may provide a better way to facilitate public communication of risk and thus improve the quality of public discussions and policy decision-making processes.