Abstract: Taking 318 core journal papers from CNKI (China National Knowledge Internet) as sample data， this study aims to analyze the research progress of citizen participation in the field of public policy. By using the bibliometric software to examine its status quo and core contents， several characteristics have been summarized—stability of change， broad content but lack of focus， emphasis on theory and system design， and reliance on one single method. Combining the software analysis results and the development trend of the discipline， it suggests that the future research should focus on the citizen participation in specific policies， pay attention to the specific participants， emphasize the citizen participation in the governmental financial information disclosure， and strengthen the studies on the citizen participation in public policy evaluation.

Key words: public policy, citizen participation, bibliometrics