公用事业特许经营活动直接关涉社会公众的切身利益，其公众参与制度应当承载避免与纠正政府规制失灵的功能。目前的公用事业特许经营法制实践，以行政过程中的民主程序作为公众参与的基本构造，欠缺对特许经营活动的实体性约束，客观上制约了其应然功能的有效发挥。社会公众作为公用事业的消费者，在特许经营活动的特定环节，应当具有利害关系人的法律地位，并享有实质性参与政府规制的权利。因此，有必要对公用事业特许经营中公众参与的法律制度进行全面检视，重新厘定公众参与的基本构造，并在此基础上完善相应的制度设计，推动其应然功能的充分释放，以切实保障公众合法权益。

Franchising activities of public utilities directly affect the vital interests of the general public， and the institutional design of public participation in such activities should aim to prevent and rectify government regulatory failure. In current legal practices concerning public utility franchises， public participation is basically structured around democratic procedures in administrative processes， lacking substantive constraints on franchise activities. This has objectively restricted the effective exertion of its supposed functions. As consumers of public utilities， the general public should have the legal status of stakeholders in specific links of franchise activities and enjoy the right to substantially participate in government regulation. Therefore， it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive legal review of the public participation system in public utility franchises， redefine the basic structure of public participation， and on this basis， improve the corresponding institutional design. This will help fully unleash its intended functions and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the public.