End of Commitment Report – Strengthening and incorporation of new elements in the digital platform for citizen participation in the creation and modification of laws

Name of Evaluator

Alberto Bayardo Pérez Arce

Email

Alberto Bayardo Pérez Arce

Member Name

Jalisco, México

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Title

Action plan – Jalisco, Mexico, 2023 – 2024

CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action...

Strengthening and incorporation of new elements in the digital platform for citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More in the creation and modification of laws.

Problem

Presence of elements within the “Congreso Abierto Jalisco” platform that make its interaction with users unfriendly, such as the use of unclear or incomprehensible language; the non-existence of data published in open formats or the absence of informative elements that encourage the use of the platform.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

complete

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Due to the need to complete in a timely manner the commitment made by the Congress of the State of Jalisco and being close to the constitutional end of the LXII Legislature, it was determined that it should have 7 seven actions, which would have to be verified and validated by the corresponding Committee before the end of the same, which was in the year 2021.

In order to observe the progress, compliance and validation of the actions carried out, the Technical Secretariat of Open Government Jalisco established a monitoring board where you can view, consult and download the progress and compliance of each of them, which includes evidence of their progress.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

• Memoria Audio Visual
• Coordination of Open Parliament, Transparency and Citizen Participation
• List of present members in the meeting

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

The success in the culmination of the commitment was achieved thanks to the constant support of the Institute of TransparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, Public Information and Protection of Personal Data as the governing body and also thanks to the active participation, co-creation and monitoring of the members of the Civil Society Monitoring Committee, who were always attentive and verifying the fulfillment of the actions and validating them, which allowed this commitment to be fulfilled within the time stipulated in the Action Plan.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

All of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

All those involved were aware of the short period of time available to fulfill the commitment in the Action Plan for the end of the legislature and the public administration in thelLegislative Branch, unlike the other two branches of the State of Jalisco, the Executive and the Judicial, which were halfway through their administration. From the beginning, the goal was to ensure that both the commitment and its actions were quickly capable of being carried out and implemented to avoid subsequent changes or adjustments to the Action Plan.

Spaces for dialogue and co-creation were held to discuss progress in the implementation of the commitment, where the participation of civil society represented in the Follow-up Committee was taken into account at all times, according to each of the corresponding milestones.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Log Sheet  Mircosite 
• Screenshots of the video broadcasts of the new Microsite on the Channel
• Links to the audiovisual materials  of the new Jalisco Congress Microsite

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Transformer: By fulfilling the commitment, the legislative and decree initiatives that are being ruled on by the Legislative Committees of the Congress of the State of Jalisco have been displayed in real time in a more user-friendly way and with citizen language for easy understanding, also having an image that allows identifying the topic of the initiative and a video clip where the meaning of the initiative is explained, in addition to allowing citizens to give their opinion on them, with the obligation of the Legislative Committees, when ruling, to take into account the comments made by citizens, whether in an affirmative or negative sense.

In addition, new sections have been included, such as the Open DataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... Section, in compliance with the Open Data Policy of this Congress. With the above, a greater degree of participation of the citizens of the State of Jalisco in the work of the Legislative Branch has been achieved.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Coordination of Open Parliament, Transparency and Citizen Participation

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Transformer: With the implementation of changes to the Jalisco Open Congress Microsite, citizens can now observe, using citizen language and images, the bills and decree initiatives that are being discussed and approved by the various legislative committees, with the possibility of participating by giving their opinion on them; subscribe to each Legislative Committee by topic of interest or directly to a particular initiative, to receive updates on each of them in their email, regarding their progress in the legislative process, from their presentation, their first and second reading, to their publication in the Official Gazette.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Coordination of Open Parliament, Transparency and Citizen Participation
• Memoria Audio Visual

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

In the new Jalisco Open Congress mMicrosite with its new sections, the capabilities to hold deputies accountable for their legislative work have been improved. It is now possible to identify the legislative activity of each one of them, observing their public agenda, which Legislative Committees they participate in, which bills or decrees they have presented, as well as their curriculum and professional and legislative experience; how many initiatives are pending to be ruled on in each of the 20 existing Committees. Citizens can now clearly observe the work of the Legislative Branch and the Deputies.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Coordination of Open Parliament, Transparency and Citizen Participation
• Memoria Audio Visual

2.1.4 Other Results

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Transformer: In the Jalisco Open Congress Microsite, you can now also consult the Open Data Section, where you can find open data sets of essential information about Congress so that they can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone, thereby achieving a significant increase in citizen participation with their legislators, promoting transparency and accountability.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Coordination of Open Parliament, Transparency and Citizen Participation
• Memoria Audio Visual

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The commitment consisted of improving the quality of published information, improving access to information by citizens by incorporating new sections and making it more understandable and user-friendly.

Also, with this commitment, access was promoted so that citizens can influence legislative decision-making, thus making civic participation relevant.

It was directly linked to the Jalisco State Plan for Governance and Development 2018-2024, in Axis 6.1 “Governance for Development” by increasing citizen participation in planning, monitoring and evaluation processes in the instruments of the participatory planning system, as well as promoting governance processes in the state public administration and the city councils, through training for citizens and state and municipal officials, the promotion and use of participatory mechanisms linked to public decision-making processes and projects in the Government of Jalisco.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Coordination of Open Parliament, Transparency and Citizen Participation

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

With the implementation of the actions we have taken, we have improved our portal, updated and made the quality of the information published more accessible to the public, using clear and understandable language for society. Now we have to promote and disseminate the existence of this new tool so that more citizens can influence the construction and approval of laws in Jalisco.

This tool is a pillar of the Open ParliamentEnsuring access to legislative information and creating mechanisms for public participation are critical to building an open, trusting relationship with citizens. Technical specifications: Commitments.... Therefore, the following commitment is intended to focus on the dissemination of the platform’s capabilities, since at present there is a monthly average of around 10,000 visits to the Microsite and it is considered that the percentage of citizen participation is very low. Although it is true that the number of people who enter to learn about legislative work is very acceptable, it is also true that the number of comments issued to each of the bills or decrees remains very low.