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Citizens as Partners : Information, Consultation and Public Participation in Policy-Making. PDF

253 Pages·2001·1.095 MB·English
by  OECD
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« GOVERNANCE Citizens as Partners Citizens INFORMATION, CONSULTATION AND PUBLIC as Partners C PARTICIPATION IN POLICY-MAKING i t i z e n Governments are in a crisis of identity, some would say legitimacy, with election turnouts low s INFORMATION, CONSULTATION in many OECD countries and a widespread feeling of disenchantment among citizens with a s government and the democratic process. Can governments do something to change this? AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN P Certainly, doing nothing is not an answer. What every country needs is more transparency, a POLICY-MAKING r more consultation and more participation. tn e r s This book is a unique source of comparative information on this challenging subject. It examines a wide range of country experiences, offers examples of good practice, highlights IN F innovative approaches and identifies promising tools (including new information OR GOVERNANCE technologies). A set of ten guiding principles for engaging citizens in policy-making is proposed. M A T IO FURTHER READING N Citizens as Partners: OECD Handbook on Information, Consultation and Public Participation , C in Policy-Making. O N S U L T A T IO N A N D P U B L IC P A R T IC IP A T IO N All OECD books and periodicals are now available on line IN P O L www.SourceOECD.org IC Y - M A K www.oecd.org IN G ISBN 92-64-19539-4 42 2001 13 1 P -:HSTCQE=V^ZX^Y: Fx-Titre.fm Page 1 Friday, September 21, 2001 4:27 PM Citizens as Partners INFORMATION, CONSULTATION AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN POLICY-MAKING ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Fx-Titre.fm Page 2 Friday, September 21, 2001 4:31 PM ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: – to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; – to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and – to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non- discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. The original Member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21stDecember1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22ndNovember1996), Korea (12th December 1996) and the Slovak Republic (14th December2000). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention). Publié en français sous le titre : DES CITOYENS PARTENAIRES Information, consultation et participation à la formulation des politiques publiques © OECD 2001 Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained through the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC), 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France, tel. (33-1) 44 07 47 70, fax (33-1) 46 34 67 19, for every country except the United States. In the United States permission should beobtained through the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer Service, (508)750-8400, 222Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA, or CCC Online: www.copyright.com. All other applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this book should be made to OECD Publications, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. FOREWORD In 1999, the PUMA Working Group on Strengthening Government-Citizen Connections launched a survey of the legal, policy and institutional frameworks in place in OECD Member countries to ensure citizens' access to information, consultation, and active participation in public policy-making. A second survey followed in 2000 on the use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in strengthening government-citizen connections. A set of country case studies highlighting concrete experience in nine OECD Member countries provided valuable insights to complement the comparative information obtained in the surveys. This report presents the results of over two years of joint efforts which have drawn heavily upon the insights gained during the meetings of the Working Group. The report was prepared by Joanne Caddy in collaboration with Christian Vergez of the OECD Public Management Service. The report is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. 3 © OECD 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword............................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................................................. 7 Preface.................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................................. 11 Part 1 Strengthening government-citizen relations Section I. Why strengthen government-citizen relations?.......................................................................................... 19 1.1. Objectives and structure of the report............................................................................................................ 21 1.2. Why strengthen government relations with citizens?.................................................................................... 23 1.3. Key features and trends................................................................................................................................... 23 1.4. Methodology and final products...................................................................................................................... 25 Section II. Building frameworks and tools for government-citizen relations......................................................... 27 2.1. Building legal, policy and institutional frameworks....................................................................................... 27 2.2. Developing tools and practices........................................................................................................................ 44 2.3. Integrating information and communication technologies (ICTs)................................................................ 50 Section III. Developing capacity for evaluation............................................................................................................. 65 3.1. Evaluating public information, consultation and participation.................................................................... 65 Section IV. Lessons, challenges and opportunities for the future............................................................................. 71 4.1. Initial lessons for strengthening government-citizen relations.................................................................... 71 4.2. Government-citizen relations, good governance and the quality of democracy...................................... 73 4.3. Challenges and opportunities for the future.................................................................................................. 74 4.4. Future PUMA work.............................................................................................................................................. 76 Part 2 From policy to practice: lessons from country case studies Section V. Government-citizen relations in action....................................................................................................... 81 5.1. Country case studies in information, consultation and participation......................................................... 81 Consulting on health policy in Canada............................................................................................................ 85 Engaging citizens in the Danish health care sector....................................................................................... 107 Engaging the poor in policy-making on poverty and social exclusion in Flanders (Belgium)................. 125 Public consultation on education policy in the Czech Republic................................................................. 145 5 © OECD 2001 Citizens as Partners: Information, Consultation and Public Participation in Policy-making Access to information on the environment in the United States................................................................. 163 Public work programmes in Hungary............................................................................................................... 177 Information and consultation in the field of social housing in France........................................................ 191 Using ICTs to strengthen government transparency and relations with citizens in Korea....................... 209 Using consensus conferences on genetically modified food in Norway..................................................... 223 Annex..................................................................................................................................................................................... 239 Bibliography......................................................................................................................................................................... 261 Notes...................................................................................................................................................................................... 265 6 © OECD 2001 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Secretariat would like to thank all the OECD countries that participated in the surveys and especially the members of the PUMA Working Group on Strengthening Government-Citizen Connections who assisted in the preparation of the report. Thanks are also due to all those involved in the preparation of the country case studies, in particular: Anja Claeys, Filip Coussee, Silke Heiden, Anne Merckaert and Lieve De Grande (Belgium – Flanders); Laurie Ham (Canada); Michal Illner, Jana Stachová and Zdenka Vajdová (Czech Republic); Daniel Blume (Denmark); Philippe Gustin and Clarisse Dubois (France); Philippe Gustin (Hungary); Boyoung Im and Jinwoo Jung (Korea); Alf J. Mørkrid (Norway); Franklin S. Reeder (United States). Finally, a special mention is due to Daniel Blume and Anne-Marie Leroy for their part in launching the project, and to Emiko Ima, Elodie Beth, Fadila Oumaouche and many others for their support in preparing this report. 7 © OECD 2001 PREFACE New forms of representation and public participation are emerging in all our countries. These developments have expanded the avenues for citizens to participate more fully in public policy-making, within the overall framework of representative democracy in which parliaments continue to play a central role. Citizens are increasingly demanding greater transparency and accountability from their governments, and want greater public participation in shaping policies that affect their lives. Educated, well-informed citizens expect governments to take their views and knowledge into account when making decisions on their behalf. Engaging citizens in policy-making allows governments to respond to these expectations and, at the same time, design better policies and improve their implementation. This report is based on extensive surveys and case studies of OECD Member countries undertaken over the last two years. It provides a unique source of comparative information on measures adopted in OECD countries to strengthen citizens' access to information, to enhance consultation and encourage their active participation in policy-making. The report offers an overall framework within which to examine a wide range of country experiences, identify examples of good practice and highlight innovative approaches. Questions are raised daily with respect to the role of “civil society”, especially in light of the events of Seattle and those which have followed, most recently at the Summit in Genoa. This report is timely. The subject is important. It will be with us for a long time, especially with the growth of Information and Communication Technologies which have facilitated the coordination of action by NGOs and others. I hope this report will contribute to clarifying the issues and support policy-makers in both OECD and non-member countries as part of all our efforts to promote good public governance. Donald J. Johnston Secretary-General of the OECD 9 © OECD 2001 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Engaging citizens in policy-making is a sound investment and a core Engaging citizens element of good governance. It allows governments to tap wider sources in policy-making is part of information, perspectives and potential solutions, and improves the of good governance quality of the decisions reached. Equally important, it contributes to building public trust in government, raising the quality of democracy and strengthening civic capacity. Several driving forces have led OECD countries to focus attention on Governments are under strengthening their relations with citizens, including the steady erosion of pressure to enhance voter turnout in elections, falling membership in political parties and transparency and surveys showing declining confidence in key public institutions. Calls for accountability greater government transparency and accountability have grown, as public and media scrutiny of government actions increases and standards in public life are codified and raised. Governments in all OECD countries are under pressure to integrate public input into the policy-making process, and respond to citizens’ expectations that their voices be heard and their views be considered in policy-making. In strengthening their relations with citizens, governments must Information, consultation ensure that: and participation are essential • Information is complete, objective, reliable, relevant, easy to find and to understand. • Consultation has clear goals and rules defining the limits of the exercise and government's obligation to account for its use of citizens' input. • Participation provides sufficient time and flexibility to allow for the emergence of new ideas and proposals by citizens, as well as mechanisms for their integration into government policy-making processes. At the same time, the challenges of the emerging information society The emerging information oblige governments to adopt new information and communication society raises new technologies (ICTs) and prepare for greater and faster interactions with challenges citizens. All OECD countries regard new information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a powerful tool and are making significant efforts to bring their administrations and their citizens “on-line”. Governments must invest adequate time and resources in building Governments need to build robust legal, policy and institutional frameworks, developing appropriate commitment and capacity tools and evaluating their own performance in engaging citizens in policy- making. Commitment and leadership by politicians and senior public managers are also key ingredients. 11 © OECD 2001 Citizens as Partners: Information, Consultation and Public Participation in Policy-making Engaging citizens in Policy-making in all OECD countries rests on the foundation of policy-making recognises… representative democracy. Within this framework, many OECD countries have long-standing traditions of extensive citizen involvement. All are looking for new ways to include citizens in policy-making. …information as a basic Information is defined in the report as a one-way relationship and precondition… covers both “passive” access to information upon demand by citizens and “active” measures by government to disseminate information to citizens. Access to information requires sound legislation, clear institutional mechanisms for its application and independent oversight institutions and judiciary for enforcement. Finally, it requires citizens to know and understand their rights – and to be willing and able to act upon them. All OECD countries must reconcile the citizen’s right to know with the individual’s right to privacy and the need to preserve confidentiality where disclosure of information would be against the public interest. Balancing rights of access, protection of privacy and limits to official secrecy is a significant challenge – especially given the rapid evolution of information and communication technologies (ICTs). …consultation as central Consultation is seen as a two-way relationship in which citizens to policy-making… provide feedback to government. It is based on the prior definition by government of the issue on which citizens’ views are being sought and requires the provision of information. Governments define the issues for consultation, set the questions and manage the process, while citizens are invited to contribute their views and opinions. Consultation has only recently been recognised as an essential element of public policy-making in the majority of OECD countries, and legal, policy and institutional frameworks are still under development. …active participation Active participation is regarded as a relation based on partnership as a new frontier with government, in which citizens actively engage in defining the process and content of policy-making. It acknowledges equal standing for citizens in setting the agenda, proposing policy options and shaping the policy dialogue – although the responsibility for the final decision or policy formulation rests with government. Active participation recognises the capacity of citizens to discuss and generate policy options independently. It requires governments to share in agenda-setting and to ensure that policy proposals generated jointly will be taken into account in reaching a final decision. Only a few OECD countries have begun to explore such approaches and experience to date is limited to a few pilot cases. Legal, policy and Access to information is a basic precondition for engaging citizens, institutional frameworks and the adoption of freedom of information (FOI) laws has gathered pace are under in recent years. In 1980 only 20 per cent of the OECD Member countries construction had legislation on access to information; in 1990 this figure had risen to just over 40 per cent and by the end of 2000 it had reached 80 per cent – or 24 out of the current 30 Member countries. The scope, quantity and quality of government information provided to the public has also increased greatly. Consultation and opportunities for citizens to provide feedback on policy proposals are also on the rise, but at a slower rate. Active participation and efforts to engage citizens in policy-making on a partnership basis are rare. Governments need to The first step in the design of successful information, consultation and match tools with active participation in policy-making is to clearly define the objective of 12 objectives… the exercise – on the basis of which the target group (e.g. all citizens, rural © OECD 2001

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