Open government : fostering dialogue with civil society

198 Pages·2004·0.883 MB·English

by  OECD

«
Open Government
FOSTERING DIALOGUE WITH CIVIL SOCIETY
Open
Building open and transparent government is a challenge shared by all countries.
Transparency and accountability in the public administration are enhanced by strong public
scrutiny based on solid legal provisions for access to information. Investing in consultation
Government
and public participation allows governments to tap new sources of policy-relevant ideas,
information and resources when making decisions. These efforts, in turn, contribute to
building public trust in government, meeting the expectations of civil society, and
strengthening civic capacity. FOSTERING DIALOGUE
WITH CIVIL SOCIETY
Building open government is not cost-free; nor is it without its risks. This book examines
how to build robust legal, institutional and policy frameworks for access to information,
consultation and public participation in policy-making. It focuses on lessons from
experience from both OECD member and non-member countries in seeking to apply the
principles of good governance in practice and to build effective partnerships between
government, citizens and civil society organisations.
O
This book presents the papers discussed during the “International Roundtable onBuilding p
Open Government in South East Europe: Information, Consultation and Public Participation” e
n
held in Ljubljana, Slovenia from 23-24 May 2002. The International Roundtable was
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organised by the OECD in collaboration with the Government of Slovenia, the World Bank o
Institute and the Open Society Institute. It gathered close to one hundred participants from v
e
28 countries among both OECD member countries and those of South East Europe, with r
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equal numbers of practitioners from government and from civil society. m
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ISBN 92-64-09983-2 Y
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42 2003 01 1 P www.oecd.org
Open Government
Fostering Dialogue with Civil Society
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
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
(28thApril1964), Finland (28thJanuary 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand
(29thMay1973), 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).
© OECD 2003
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FOREWORD
This publication presents the results of the International Roundtable on
“Building Open Government in South East Europe: Information, Consultation
and Public Participation” held in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 23-24 May 2002. The
International Roundtable was organised by the OECD in collaboration with the
Government of the Republic of Slovenia, the World Bank Institute (WBI) and
the Open Society Institute (OSI). The OECD contribution was made possible by
a grant from the Government of Denmark to the Stability Pact Anti-Corruption
Initiative (SPAI). The International Roundtable, which drew significant media
attention, was opened with an address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Slovenia, Dr Dimitrij Rupel, and closed by the Minister of the
Interior, Dr Rado Bohinc. It gathered close to 100 participants from 28 countries
among both OECD member countries and South East Europe non-members,
with equal numbers of practitioners from government and civil society.
The International Roundtable’s innovative format facilitated exchange
among this highly diverse group of participants, who appreciated in particular
three aspects of the event: the high quality of the discussions, the focus on
concrete tools, and the chance to meet new partners from other countries in the
region and from among the OECD membership. This publication captures the
different perspectives and lively debates that characterised the event, and
includes a set of concrete case studies drawn from a wide range of country
contexts.
The publication was prepared by Joanne Caddy in collaboration with
Christian Vergez, both of the OECD Directorate for Public Governance and
Territorial Development, and is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-
General of the OECD.
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The International Roundtable on “Building Open Government in South
East Europe: Information, Consultation and Public Participation” (Ljubljana,
23-24 May 2002) was organised by the OECD in collaboration with the
Government of the Republic of Slovenia, the World Bank Institute (WBI) and
the Open Society Institute (OSI).
The OECD Secretariat would like to thank the Prime Minister and the
Government of the Republic of Slovenia for their generous support in hosting
this event, as well as the World Bank and the Open Society Institute for their
invaluable contributions in making the International Roundtable a success.
Special thanks are also due to the Mayor of Ljubljana for her warm hospitality.
The OECD’s participation was made possible by a grant from the
Government of Denmark to the Stability Pact Anti-Corruption Initiative (SPAI).
The Community Empowerment and Social Inclusion Programme of the WBI
would like to recognise the support of the Government of Italy for this event.
Thanks are also due to all those involved in the preparation of the
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:2)(cid:6)(cid:3)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:2)(cid:6)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:11)(cid:8)(cid:12)(cid:2)(cid:13)(cid:3)(cid:6)(cid:14)(cid:9)(cid:4)(cid:15)(cid:10)(cid:7)(cid:2)(cid:10)(cid:16)(cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:3)(cid:7)(cid:17)(cid:12)(cid:9)(cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:18)(cid:10)(cid:19)(cid:4)(cid:20)(cid:4)(cid:2)(cid:21)(cid:6)(cid:10)(cid:22)(cid:5)(cid:4)(cid:23)(cid:2)(cid:6)(cid:5)-Pergar (Office of the
Prime Minister, Slovenia); Mary McNeil and Marcos Mendiburu (WBI); and
Jerzy Celichowski (OSI). Marc Gramberger (Prospex bvba) offered invaluable
professional input both before and during the event, Fadila Oumaouche (OECD)
ensured preparations for the event, while the highest possible standards of
logistical support were provided by Urša Trojar (Kompas d.d.) and Aleš
Gerkman (Centre for Informatics, Government of Slovenia). Finally, special
mention must go to all participants, authors and many others for their
contribution and support in preparing this report.

4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD ……………………………………………………………......... 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………... 4
PART I
THE STATE OF OPEN GOVERNMENT ……………………........................ 7
Information, Consultation and Public Participation in Policy-making:
Building Open Government in OECD member countries .………………… 9
Building Open Government in Slovenia
by Nevenka (cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:2)-Pergar, Government of the Republic of Slovenia …… 25
Governance Principles in Practice: Experience in OECD member countries
by Klaus-Henning Rosen, Public Management Committee, OECD .............. 29
The World Bank Partnership and Ctizens Outreach Programme
in Europe and central Asia
by Franz Kaps, World Bank …………..………..……..………………….. 33
The Open Society Institute’s Information Programme
by Jerzy Celichowski, Open Society Institute …………..…………………... 35
Debating Open Government: Why? Who? How?
A panel discussion with:
Birgit Lindsnæs, Danish Centre for Human Rights;Josip Kregar,
Transparency Croatia; Steven Lee, Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy
Development; Sonja Cagronov, Agency for Public Administration
Development,Republic of Serbia (FRY); Anne-Marie Leroy,
Councillor of State, France.
Moderated by: Keelin Shanley, Independent Journalist ………..……..…... 37
Practice What You Preach: The Roundtable as an Effective Interactive Event
by Marc Gramberger, Prospex bvba ............................................................. 57
Exchanging Good Practices: The Tools Fair on Building Open Government
by Marc Gramberger, Prospex bvba ………………………………………. 67
PART II
ACCESS TO INFORMATION ………………………………....................... 71
Access to Information
by Joanne Caddy, OECD …………………………………………………... 73
Municipal Citizen Information Centres: An Effective Tool for
Information, Consultation and Public Participation
by Vesna Atanasova,
Macedonia Local Government Project, USAID/DAI …………..…………. 79
5
The Open Sweden Campaign
by Hans Sundström, Swedish Agency for Public Management ................… 87
Access to Information: The Montenegrin Experience
(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:2) (cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:9)(cid:11)(cid:2)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:14)(cid:15)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:9)(cid:18)(cid:2)(cid:3)e Access to Information Program,
Republic of Montenegro (FRY) .................................................................... 93
PART III
CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION ……….………......................... 99
Consultation and Public Participation
by Marcos Mendiburu, World Bank Institute ………………………..…. 101
Public Participation in Environmental Protection and Transboundary
Water Management Issues in the Estonian-Russian Border Area
by Margit Säre, Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation, Estonia... 109
Hear the Citizens: Building Meaningful Dialogue
by Katju Holkeri, Ministry of Finance, Finland ………………………….. 119
U-Turn: NGOs Now Reach National Governments
through International Institutions
by Liliana N. Proskuryakova, St. Petersburg Center for Humanities
and Political Studies "Strategy", Russia ………………………………….. 129
Governance: A Citizens' Perspective
by Giovanni Moro, Active Citizenship Network …………………….…… 137
PART IV
BUILDING EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS ……………………………… 149
Building Effective Partnerships
by Jerzy Celichowski, Open Society Institute....…………………………... 151
Joining the EU by Consulting NGOs: The Case of Slovenia
by (cid:18)(cid:3)(cid:19)(cid:13)(cid:2)(cid:9)(cid:1)(cid:3)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:3)(cid:17)(cid:9)(cid:20)(cid:13)(cid:14)(cid:3)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:21)(cid:3)(cid:5)(cid:22)(cid:6)(cid:23)(cid:9)(cid:24)(cid:25)(cid:25)(cid:15)(cid:26)(cid:3)(cid:9)(cid:25)(cid:13)(cid:2)(cid:9)(cid:27)(cid:28)(cid:9)(cid:29)(cid:25)(cid:25)(cid:6)(cid:15)(cid:2)(cid:30), Slovenia …..…….. 155
Opening the Thinking on Open Government
(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:31)(cid:2)(cid:15)(cid:21)(cid:13) (cid:9)!"(cid:2)(cid:13)(cid:2)(cid:6)(cid:2)(cid:17)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:23)(cid:13)(cid:14)(cid:3)(cid:5)(cid:15)(cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:9)#(cid:3)$(cid:6)(cid:23)(cid:9)%(cid:5)(cid:25)(cid:13)(cid:2)(cid:21)(cid:6)(cid:22)(cid:15)(cid:13)(cid:5)(cid:9)&(cid:3)(cid:5)(cid:22)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:9)(cid:25)(cid:13)(cid:2)(cid:9)’(cid:20)(cid:24)(cid:30) ……... 165
NGOs and Government in the Czech Republic in 2002
(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9)((cid:15)(cid:23)(cid:3)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:9)(cid:1)(cid:3)(cid:2)(cid:5)á, SKOK Civic Asociation
and Jiri Marek, Ministry of the Interior, Czech Republic........................... 171
Dialogue and Partnership between Government
and Civil Society in Albania
by Zef Preçi, Albanian Center for Economic Research…………………… 179
Embracing Civil Society and State Institutions
in Partnership Co-operation
by Birgit Lindsnæs, The Danish Centre for Human Rights………….….… 189
ABOUT THE AUTHORS ……………………………………………......... 203
6
PART I
THE STATE OF OPEN GOVERNMENT
Abstract
This section provides an overview of the key issues involved in building
open government today: ensuring transparency, accountability and openness;
widening opportunities for citizen input into public policy-making; and building
partnerships between government, citizens and civil society organisations.
Recent OECD work on engaging citizens and civil society in policy-making is
introduced, and the perspectives of each of the co-organisers of the International
Roundtable provided. The frank and lively exchange of views aired during the
panel discussion among government and civil society practitioners from OECD
member and non-member countries is reported. Finally, the section concludes
with a general assessment of participants’ views on the challenges of building
open government and an overview of the Tools Fair.
7
INFORMATION, CONSULTATION
AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN POLICY-MAKING:
BUILDING OPEN GOVERNMENT IN OECD MEMBER COUNTRIES

Abstract
Building open and transparent government is a challenge shared by all
1
countries. This chapter reviews the key findings and main policy
recommendations of a recent OECD report on how governments in OECD
member countries are engaging citizens in more open policy making. It argues
that building robust legal, institutional and policy frameworks for access to
information, consultation and public participation in policy making contributes
to better public policy, the fight against corruption, and greater public trust in
government.
1. From principles to practice of good governance
Good governance is increasingly recognised as an essential factor for
economic development and social stability, and is at the core of OECD work in
a wide range of public policy fields. Increasingly, the OECD itself invests in
policy dialogue with the key partners of governments, such as business, trade
unions (through long-standing consultative structures) and, more recently, civil
society organisations (CSOs), all of whose contributions are crucial to achieving
good governance. Recognition of the valuable insights to be gained from policy
dialogue and sharing experiences among a wide range of countries is at the
heart of the OECD work with both members and non-members. Both elements
of this approach were reflected in the International Roundtable on Building
Open Government in South East Europe held in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on 23-
24 May 2002, which brought together close to 100 government and civil society
practitioners from OECD member and non-member countries.
Good governance principles
Among the widely accepted principles of good governance are
openness, transparency and accountability; fairness and equity in dealings with
9
citizens, including mechanisms for consultation and participation; efficient and
effective services; clear, transparent and applicable laws and regulations;
consistency and coherence in policy formation; respect for the rule of law; and
high standards of ethical behaviour. These principles represent the basis upon
which to build open government – one that is more accessible, responsive and
transparent in its operations.
Of specific relevance when building open government are the
following three key principles:
(cid:1) Accountability, meaning that it is possible to identify and hold public
officials to account for their actions;
(cid:1) Transparency, meaning that reliable, relevant and timely information
about the activities of government is available to the public;
(cid:1) Openness, meaning that governments listen to citizens and businesses,
and take their suggestions into account when designing and
implementing public policies.
These principles are not abstract notions. Each one can be applied in
practice through appropriate legislation, policies, and formal and informal
institutional frameworks. For example, laws establishing rights of access to
information – as well as the institutional mechanisms to enforce these rights –
are a basic building block for enhancing government transparency and
accountability. Government policies stipulating how citizens and CSOs should
be consulted during policy making and how policy makers are to account for
public input when reaching their decisions are necessary, if not sufficient,
conditions for achieving greater openness. Deeper engagement of citizens and
civil society does not mean that elected governments relinquish their
responsibility to make decisions in the public interest. It does mean that they
have to invest more time and energy in explaining their proposals and seeking
citizens’ views throughout the policy cycle (from design to implementation),
and in providing reasons for the decisions they have taken.
The rest of this chapter will review how OECD member countries are
putting these good governance principles into practice in building more open
government, with specific reference to designing, formulating and
2
implementing public policies.
10