Megaprojects are increasingly common across countries and attract substantial political attention from a variety of actors. Recent studies have highlighted the need to move from an understanding of megaprojects as linear and rational processes towards a more nuanced approach that accounts for non-linear and conflictual aspects. Participatory governance is often proposed as a valuable resource in this regard. In this paper, we investigate the setting and design of two participatory venues operating in the context of the implementation of the Lyon-Turin high-speed railway megaproject: the Italian Observatory for the Turin-Lyon Railway and the French Public Inquiry. Empirical evidence shows that the Italian case featured substantial structural barriers to effective democratic participation. As for the French case, while better designed and implanted in its context, it featured important agentic limitations that undermined its democratic potential. On the basis of our case study, we therefore argue that both the Observatory for the Turin-Lyon Railway and Public Inquiry failed to promote democratic participation. We thus propose a deliberative approach to (the study of) of megaprojects. Whereas deliberative democratic ideas command growing interest across disciplines, these have found only limited application in the study of megaprojects. We contend that a deliberative democratic approach holds promise to improve the democratic and epistemic qualities of decision making on megaprojects.

中文翻译：

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大型项目中的参与式治理：结构、代理和民主参与之间的里昂-都灵高速铁路

大型项目在各国越来越普遍，并吸引了各种参与者的大量政治关注。最近的研究强调，需要将大型项目理解为线性和理性的过程，转向考虑非线性和冲突方面的更微妙的方法。在这方面，参与式治理经常被提议作为一种宝贵的资源。在本文中，我们调查了在实施里昂-都灵高速铁路大型项目的背景下运作的两个参与式场馆的设置和设计：意大利都灵-里昂铁路天文台和法国公众调查。实证证据表明，意大利的案例对有效的民主参与具有重大的结构性障碍。至于法国的情况，虽然在其背景下进行了更好的设计和植入，但它具有重要的代理限制，破坏了其民主潜力。因此，根据我们的案例研究，我们认为都灵-里昂铁路观察站和公众调查都未能促进民主参与。因此，我们提出了一种审慎的方法来（研究）大型项目。尽管协商民主思想在各个学科中引起了越来越多的兴趣，但这些思想在大型项目的研究中应用有限。我们认为，协商民主方法有望提高大型项目决策的民主和认知质量。因此，我们认为都灵-里昂铁路观察站和公众调查都未能促进民主参与。因此，我们提出了一种审慎的方法来（研究）大型项目。尽管协商民主思想在各个学科中引起了越来越多的兴趣，但这些思想在大型项目的研究中应用有限。我们认为，协商民主方法有望提高大型项目决策的民主和认知质量。因此，我们认为都灵-里昂铁路观察站和公众调查都未能促进民主参与。因此，我们提出了一种审慎的方法来（研究）大型项目。尽管协商民主思想在各个学科中引起了越来越多的兴趣，但这些思想在大型项目的研究中应用有限。我们认为，协商民主方法有望提高大型项目决策的民主和认知质量。