This chapter aims to conceptualize direct citizen participation (DCP), designing and implementing public policies with the help of public administration theories, notably theories concerning value-orientation and instrumental rationality. We aim to search for conceptual replies by explicitly focusing on these three research questions as: (1) How is DCP discussed in the extant literature? (2) Can citizens be personally involved in public policy design and implementation? (3) Which roles (critical, analytical, functional, substantive, or complementary) could be discussed for citizens in public policy processes? In the chapter, we also aim to critically discuss the publicness of government. By publicness, we address whether and how the government/state is a distinctive actor pursuing its interests rather than protecting the interest of the public at large. Lately, the role played by the public authorities, irrespective of authoritarian or democratic regimes, as a mediator or as a stakeholder in designing and implementing public policies, should be debated. In this context, we aim to shed light on the conceptualizations of public interest or common good. We want to understand under what circumstances the state/government acts for the sake of public interest or for the sake of its interest.