Participation or public engagement is often mistaken by policymakers as a communications or public relations exercise.  Participation is not and should not be used as a communications exercise. Doing so would destroy policymakers’ credibility and can lead to anger and disengagement from citizens. If done correctly, though, public participation can be a meaningful political process that helps governments gain the people’s respect, and facilitate public policy or sector reforms. The following steps can help to put decision makers on the right track to meaningful participation.Governments and multilateral banks such as ADB often fear that calling for participation from civil society can lead to raising expectations that we cannot meet. Participants can misconstrue the call for engagement as an opportunity to work together on upcoming projects or secure economic or financial opportunities, when in fact, the interaction may be limited in nature. — Blogs.adb.org/blog