Open Government Foundations: Mainstreaming Participation

Mainstreaming Participation

Giving the public opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. In the context of open government, these deliberations allow the public to provide feedback on the actions of governments through organized discussions. Deliberative democratic processes have seen considerable innovation in the past few decades, ranging in formality, size, and permanence.

Key Terms The Evidence Reform
Guidance Active OGP
Partners Benchmarking
Data Guidance
& Standards

Open Gov Challenge: Public Participation

With OGP’s 2023-2028 Strategy, OGP members are set to work toward a number of aspirational thematic reforms through the Open Gov Challenge. This section of the Open Gov Guide addresses Public Participation.

Challenge prompt: Mainstream or embed fit-for-purpose, high quality and inclusive public participation practices across key government sectors, processes, and institutions.

Actions and reforms that fit within the scope of this challenge area are:

Passing and implementing laws and policies that create the expectation and/or possibility of a higher level of public participation across the policy-making process (e.g. establishing legally enforceable participation requirements or new mechanisms for participation.)
Creating participation teams or institutionalizing mechanisms that are responsible for improving public participation in general or within specific sectoral reforms.

Key Terms

Definitions for key terms such as civic participation and deliberative democracy.

Civic participation: Civic participation occurs when governments seek to mobilize members of the public to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to more responsive, innovative, and effective governance.
Deliberative democracy: Deliberative democracy is a democratic approach that emphasizes the importance of inclusive and reasoned deliberation among the public in shaping public decisions and policies. It is based on the belief that a well-functioning democracy requires active civic engagement, open dialogue, and rational deliberation to reach collectively just and informed outcomes.

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The Evidence

A growing body of evidence suggests that deliberative approaches can enhance decisions in a democracy.

Achieving greater consensus on an issue can increase the legitimacy of decisions.
Broad-based consultations can improve solutions by increasing their relevance and creativity.
Creating a space for people with different interests and backgrounds can depolarize difficult or politicized decisions by allowing participants to discuss issues more fully and to see new perspectives.

Reform Guidance

The recommendations below represent reforms that national and local governments, representatives of civil society organizations, and others can consider for their action plans and the Open Gov Challenge. The reforms are categorized according to OGP’s principal values: transparency, civic participation, and public accountability. Reforms should be adapted to fit the domestic context, and involve and coordinate with other levels and branches of government.

Reforms across policy areas are also tagged by the estimated degree of difficulty in implementation. Though progress is often not linear, the recommendations have been categorized using these labels to give the reader a sense of how different reforms can work together to raise the ambition of open government approaches.

Recommended Reforms Key

OGP Values

Transparency: Transparency empowers citizens to exercise their rights, hold the government accountable, and participate in decision-making processes. Examples of relevant activities include the proactive or reactive publication of government-held information, legal or institutional frameworks to strengthen the right to access information, and disclosing information using open data standards.

Civic Participation: When people are engaged, governments and public institutions are more responsive, innovative, and effective. Examples of relevant initiatives include new or improved processes and mechanisms for the public to contribute to decisions, participatory mechanisms to involve underrepresented groups in policy making, and a legal environment that guarantees civil and political rights.
Public Accountability: Public accountability occurs when public institutions must justify their actions, act upon requirements and criticisms, and take responsibility for failure to perform according to laws or commitments. Importantly, public accountability means that members of the public can also access and trigger accountability mechanisms. Examples of relevant activities include citizen audits of performance, new or improved mechanisms or institutions that respond to citizen-initiated appeals processes, and improved access to justice.
Inclusion: Inclusion is fundamental to achieving more equitable, representative, and accountable policies that truly serve all people. This includes increasing the voice, agency, and influence of historically discriminated or underrepresented groups. Depending on the context, traditionally underrepresented groups may experience discrimination based on gender, sexual identity, race, ethnicity, age, geography, differing ability, legal, or socioeconomic status.

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Degree of Difficulty

Foundational: This tag is used for reforms that are the essential building blocks of a policy area. “Foundational” does not mean low ambition or low impact. These recommendations often establish basic legal frameworks and institutional structures.
Intermediate: This tag is used for reforms that are complex and often involve coordination and outreach between branches, institutions, and levels of government, with the public or between countries.
Advanced: This tag is used for reforms that close important loopholes to make existing work more effective and impactful. Specifically, “Advanced” reforms are particularly ambitious, innovative or close important loopholes to make existing work more effective, impactful or sustainable. They are often applied in mature environments where they seek to institutionalize a good practice that has already shown results.

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Branch of Government

Executive: The executive branch of government is responsible for designing, implementing, and enforcing laws, policies, and initiatives. It is typically led by the head of state or government, such as a president or prime minister, along with their appointed cabinet members. The executive branch’s functions also include overseeing the day-to-day operations of the government, managing foreign affairs, and directing the country’s armed forces. In democratic systems, the executive branch is accountable to the legislature and the electorate, with its powers and limitations outlined in the constitution or legal framework of the respective country.
Legislative: The legislative branch of government is responsible for making laws and regulations and overseeing the functioning of the government. It typically consists of a body of elected representatives, such as a parliament, congress, or assembly, which is tasked with proposing, debating, amending, and ultimately passing legislation. The legislative branch plays a crucial role in representing the interests of the people, as its members are elected to office by the public. In addition to law-making, this branch often holds the power to levy taxes, allocate funds, and conduct certain investigations into matters of public concern. The structure and powers of the legislative branch are usually outlined in a country’s constitution or legal framework, and it serves as a check on the executive and judicial branches to ensure a system of checks and balances within a state.

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Recommended Reforms

Policy Area	Recommendation	OGP Value	Degree of Difficulty	Government Branch
Standards and Processes	Establish a basic framework for participation Establish a legal right to participation and access to information through common mechanisms, such as notice-and-comment periods in regulations. Policy Area Standards and Processes OGP Value Transparency Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Foundational Government Branch Legislative	Transparency Civic Participation	Foundational	Legislative
Standards and Processes	Improve access to decision-making processes Establish that the public has a right to observe and inform public decisions through open meeting laws, right to information, and lobbying rules. Policy Area Standards and Processes OGP Value Transparency Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Foundational Government Branch Legislative	Transparency Civic Participation	Foundational	Legislative
Standards and Processes	Develop minimum standards on deliberative practice Develop government standards that govern participation practice, either to elaborate on existing laws or to provide guidance for innovations in deliberative processes already being implemented by administrations or legislatures. Policy Area Standards and Processes OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Executive	Civic Participation	Intermediate	Executive
Standards and Processes	Create oversight bodies Establish multi-stakeholder bodies at the agency or whole-of-government level that design, mainstream, and monitor inclusion and participation practices in agency decision-making. These may also be housed in legislative oversight committees. These multi-stakeholder bodies should also be diverse, inclusive, and appointed using transparent, well-publicized processes. Policy Area Standards and Processes OGP Value Public Accountability Inclusion Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Legislative	Public Accountability Inclusion	Intermediate	Legislative
New Models	Design pilots Carry out pilots of deliberative processes on key issues with the general public, paying special attention to ensure diversity across and within groups of the selected sample. Examples such as citizen assemblies have found success particularly at the local level, as research on public participation suggests. Policy Area New Models OGP Value Civic Participation Inclusion Degree of Difficulty Foundational Government Branch Executive	Civic Participation Inclusion	Foundational	Executive
New Models	Establish rules for how deliberative processes interact with policy-making Explicitly explain how deliberative processes will interact with constitutional, legislative, and regulatory processes, such as clarifying when they will occur and how they will inform final decisions. For example, establish processes for deliberative polling and discussion around politically difficult issues. Policy Area New Models OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Executive Legislative	Civic Participation	Intermediate	Executive Legislative
Capacity Building	Conduct targeted outreach to identify new actors Conduct targeted outreach for new actors who will join participation initiatives to ensure that groups are as inclusive and representative as possible. Policy Area Capacity Building OGP Value Civic Participation Inclusion Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Executive Legislative	Civic Participation Inclusion	Intermediate	Executive Legislative
Capacity Building	Train public officials Carry out training and capacity building for public officials on public participation to ensure that high-quality, meaningful dialogue takes place. Policy Area Capacity Building OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Executive	Civic Participation	Intermediate	Executive
Capacity Building	Train members of the public Carry out training and capacity building for members of the public who join participation initiatives. This is especially important to build capacity for representatives from groups that are not as likely to be involved in decision-making, such as young people, indigenous people, and women, to ensure they have the tools to participate fully. Policy Area Capacity Building OGP Value Civic Participation Inclusion Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Executive	Civic Participation Inclusion	Intermediate	Executive
Capacity Building	Create institutional knowledge teams Establish participation teams or centers of best practice to maintain institutional knowledge and increase the quality of participation mechanisms. Policy Area Capacity Building OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Advanced Government Branch Executive	Civic Participation	Advanced	Executive

Examples of Reforms from OGP and Beyond

The following examples are commitments previously made within or beyond OGP that demonstrate elements of the recommendations made above. Commitments in this area have become increasingly popular, with almost all OGP members undertaking some kind of reform to improve or expand public dialogue.

OGP Reforms

ARGENTINA Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making: Committed to creating the conditions for broad, inclusive, informed, and accessible public participation in environmental decision-making in line with the Escazú Agreement. This can build on the success of its Federal Program of Open Government, which engaged diverse groups at the national and local levels to implement open government policies.
AUSTRALIA New Framework to Increase Participation in Policy-Making: Created a framework to increase public participation in policy-making based on a review of current engagement practices and workshops with members of the public to identify new strategies, with strong early results.
ESTONIA Online Platform for Policy Co-Creation: Committed to developing a centralized platform to promote a legislative and regulatory co-creation process, where the public can access the edit history, meeting records, and reasoned government responses to feedback related to policies.
LATVIA Commitment to Promote Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: Committed to strengthening multi-stakeholder decision-making by requiring ministries to identify and maintain regular dialogue with CSOs, experts, industry representatives, and others, in addition to its council promoting collaboration between CSOs and the Cabinet.
NEW ZEALAND Community Engagement Tool for Policy-Making: Committed to requiring the use of the Policy Community Engagement Tool, with the goal of increasing public participation in designing policies, particularly for those most affected by an issue, such as Māori communities.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA Public Engagement Platform for Policy-Making: Launched a platform to create opportunities for public engagement on policy-making that was then expanded. Also committed to improving the platform to increase public engagement.
SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM Framework for Public Participation in Policy-Making: Created a participation framework to guide policy makers on which kinds of participatory methods to use to involve the public in decision-making.
SWEDEN Consultation Model to Engage CSOs: Developed a dialogue model (sakråd) to engage with CSOs on issue-specific consultations, which is now used regularly to reach consensus on difficult topics.

Beyond OGP Action Plans

FRANCE Platform to Coordinate Public Participation: Established an Interdepartmental Centre for Citizen Participation, which coordinates the platform used for all public consultations by the State.
PHILIPPINES Participation in the Cabinet: Created a cluster at the Cabinet level for participatory governance, which consults civil society members in its work. The cluster also coordinates with the OGP multi-stakeholder forum.
SPAIN Open Government Forum for Dialogue: Established an Open Government Forum, a group meeting once a year that is composed of government representatives from the national and regional level, as well as civil society actors.

The Role of Local Governments

Local governments have spearheaded participatory decision-making in many countries. They are often leaders in deliberative approaches, as they are closer to the people they serve, which allows for more direct participation in government. Local officials also may be the most well-positioned to understand the particular needs and concerns of their constituents.

Critically, local governments serve as laboratories for experimentation and innovation in governance. They have led new approaches, policies, and programs, such as:

Local referendums,
Participatory budgeting,
Rules for open meetings,
Citizens assemblies and juries, and
Online platforms, such as complaint mechanisms.

For more examples of how cities are mainstreaming participation, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leader Initiative published a guide and workbook on this topic as part of its City Leader Guides series.

Who is working on this topic?

A

Albania

Argentina

Armavir, Armenia

Armenia

Australia

B

Bulgaria

C

Cabo Verde

Carthage, Tunisia

Chihuahua (Municipality), Mexico

Colombia

Contagem, Brazil

Côte D'ivoire

Czech Republic

D

Denmark

Detmold, Germany

Dominican Republic

E

Ecuador

F

Finland

France

G

Germany

H

Honduras

I

Indonesia

Ireland

Italy

K

Kaduna State, Nigeria

Khoni, Georgia

L

Lithuania

M

Madrid, Spain

Malta

Montenegro

Morocco

N

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nigeria

North Macedonia

O

Ozurgeti, Georgia

P

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Paris, France

Peru

Q

Quito, Ecuador

R

Republic Of Moldova

Romania

Rustavi, Georgia

S

Salcedo, Dominican Republic

Senegal

Serbia

Slovak Republic

T

Tarkwa Nsuaem, Ghana

Timișoara, Romania

U

Uruguay

W

Wassa Amenfi East, Ghana

Y

Yerevan, Armenia

This list reflects members with commitments in the “Mainstreaming Participation” policy area of the Data Dashboard.

Active OGP Partners

The following organizations have recently worked on this issue in the context of OGP at the national or international level. They may have additional insights on the topic. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are interested in national-level initiatives, please contact research@opengovpartnership.org.

Benchmarking Data

The OGP 2023-2028 Strategy sets out the Open Gov Challenge and aims to provide clear benchmarks for performance through reliable data. At the current time, it is unclear if there is third-party data to match this challenge across OGP membership.

Guidance & Standards

While the list below is not exhaustive, it aims to provide a range of recommendations, standards, and analysis to guide reform in this policy area.

The OGP Support Unit included a chapter on public consultation in the 2020 Regulatory Governance report. The report provides an overview of regulatory openness, including potential commitments and examples from innovators worldwide.
The OECD has produced several resources on this topic. Examples include the Guidelines for Citizen Participation Processes, a guide on public engagement for better policies and services, recommendations related to regulatory policy and governance (specifically Principle 8), and guidance on innovations related to public participation and new democratic institutions.
The European Commission made a new recommendation on involving citizens in policy-making in November 2023.
The Council of Europe‘s Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Decision-Making Process defines practices and guidelines to bring CSOs into decision-making at the national and local levels.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation for Europe published recommendations on enhancing the participation of associations in public decision-making processes.
Involve, a UK-based organization, created a guide on designing and implementing public participation processes in decision-making.
ICNL published guidance on how to develop agreements between government and civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.
The European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) created an overview of civil participation in decision-making in Council of Europe member states as well as research on participation methods to enhance engagement in the European Union. ECNL also published guidance on how governments can strengthen mechanisms for CSOs to participate in EU-related policy-making, as well as a brief on the rule of law in the EU and its role in strengthening civic space generally.
The Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, based at Simon Fraser University in Canada, created a guide for global practitioners on how to ensure equity in public engagement.

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