Public participation in the preparation of an administrative act, on the one hand, and its reasoning, on the other, traditionally constitute two distinct elements of the general theory of unilateral administrative act. Nevertheless, viewed broadly, the obligation to state reasons may contribute to the realisation of public participation. Thus, the obligation of the administration to respond to the comments of the public can be a key to connecting representative democracy and participatory democracy. By allowing the public’s views to be genuinely taken into account, it is in a position to give participation the scope which is currently severely lacking. However, it is not easy to highlight this obligation to reply. For the time being, it does not exist as such, but some of its beginnings show its emergence.