The article seeks to specify the requirements of the framework for public participation in policy making on the governmental level aiming to elaborate a substantial content of the participatory policy. The research methodology engages both qualitative and quantitative approaches based on document analysis and interviews. We analysed a range of documents, issued by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, where participatory groups are nominated for the annual terms of 2007 and 2010. Results of the research testify that, notwithstanding the considerable number of participatory facts, public administrators hold more than a half of the places in the participatory groups. Stakeholders other than public administrators are considered to be rather consultants than partners in policy development. We suggest that for a substantial, effective and efficient participation framework, several requirements should be met including a correct arena for stakes’ expression; completeness of the stake representation; balanced stake representation; sensitivity to research based evidence; monitoring and evaluation of participation quality.