Abstract

A major goal of the now over ten-year-old reform of the planning and authorization procedures for extra-high voltage power lines was to enhance the acceptance of grid infrastructure projects in order to accelerate the expansion of the power grid in Germany. However, because grid expansion did not move as fast as expected, the acceptance-enhancing effects of these procedures have been called into question. Yet, such a critical view seems not to be supported by the current state of research in the social sciences. An evaluation of empirical investigations in the acceptance effect of administrative participation procedures concerning energy infrastructure, as well as the more general theoretical literature on procedural fairness in social psychology, speaks in favor of an acceptance-enhancing effect of participation opportunities in the administrative planning and authorization procedures. Thus, this essay underlines the potential of public participation procedures for the acceptance of energy infrastructure projects. The more skeptical view might rely – in parts – on a divergent interpretation of the social science literature. Hence, this essay also deals with common problems encountered in the reception of social sciences research in the (administrative) legal sciences.