In putting together my reading list, I also looked up some annotated bibliographies that look at children’s participation in decision-making, notably through the work of some scholars based in Wisconsin. Looking at that annotated bibliography, one particular reading caught my eye, it lays out the merits of children’s participation through personal and social development. I think that this line of thinking has been explored by many scholars, especially developmental psychologists. Seeing as my own expertise and interests do not lie in development at the individual scale, my interest is more in the contribution or the argument that children’s participation in governance actually furthers the quality of local governance and more broadly, democracy while according children’s rights to participation. This is the line of thinking and work that I would like to pursue. I would like to figure out a way where my contribution of a method for analysis fosters more democratic local decision-making with children.

In addition to my wondering whether there are enough pieces in my reading list to help examine the issue from a participatory democracy standpoint, I think I also need more methodology pieces. Currently, I have 89 pieces and if I were to add more on examining the issue from a participatory democracy perspective and adding methodology pieces, then I would want to cut my list down to be a digestible volume. While my oral exam does not require that I read everything on my chosen topic, I need to be clear as to what my boundaries are. This is something I will need to clarify as I organize and revise my list.