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Paper short abstract:

My study examines how politically restricted environments affect the feasibility of citizen science, highlighting shortcomings in traditional typologies and models. It offers practical insights to innovate citizen science and strategically improve public participation in such contexts.

Paper long abstract:

Citizen science (CS) is widely discussed as a means of fostering collaboration between academic institutions and the public, empowering citizens in participatory governance. However, its application in politically restrictive civic environments remains underexplored. This study investigates the feasibility of CS in such a context through the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI). The analysis draws on interviews with PAPI leaders, local citizens, and government officials, complemented by a comprehensive document review.

Examining PAPI with multi-level perspective analysis, the study reveals three key insights. First, although not explicitly framed as a CS programme, PAPI aligns with the contributory CS model through its citizen engagement strategies. Second, despite notable impacts, citizen participation within PAPI is characterised by persistent tokenism, as evidenced by citizens’ limited power and constrained participatory spaces. Third, challenges such as a lack of autonomy and safety concerns, rooted in Vietnam’s political institutions, further exacerbate these limitations.

This paper argues that addressing these barriers requires implementing CS as part of a broader portfolio of interventions, including advocacy for educational reforms to enhance citizens’ autonomy and capacity for meaningful engagement. It also identifies shortcomings in existing terminologies for defining CS types in restricted contexts and proposes a context-sensitive definition of CS, along with a framework to guide the selection of suitable CS project types. By examining PAPI’s successes and limitations, this study underscores the potential of CS to drive governance reform in politically restrictive settings and offers practical lessons for extending its application to underexplored contexts.