Civic Participation Processes in Government (IL0023)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address?: Improving decision-making and performance of government ministries through processes of civic participation, that include diverse target audiences.
Processes of civic participation help minimizing the distance between government authorities and the public and civil society organizations, and enable decisions to be made after a more comprehensive image has been obtained.; What is the commitment?:
1. Developing an online platform for making processes of civic participation publicly accessible.
2. Creating contextual formats for conducting participatory processes in the government’s various spheres of activity (regulation, work plans, legislation, etc.) and updating them periodically.
3. Increasing awareness and training functionaries in government ministries in planning and conducting participatory processes.
4. Formulating indicators for evaluating processes of civic participation.

The above will serve to promote an increase in the number of civic participation processes being conducted in the government, an increase in the number of units that conduct civic participation processes, an increase in the number and diversity of the participants and the variety of participation tools being used.; How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?: Improving the ministries’ capabilities in managing processes of civic participation will lead to an increase in the number of participatory processes being conducted, and will enable a variety of participants to take part in the processes and influence decision-making processes.
These will influence expansion of the government’s knowledge and information base, will help to attract additional partners and, in the final analysis, will promote the reaching and implementation of better decisions.; Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?: The commitment improves the infrastructure for government ministries to consult with the public and with civil society organizations, thereby giving them opportunities to be in contact with the government, to help design the public agenda, to focus the government’s actions and to influence decision-making and its' implementation.; Additional information: Expanding the processes of civic participation in the government is a part of several parallel processes underway in recent years:
1. Implementing Government Resolution No. 3190 (2008), which addresses the relations between the government, civil society and the business sector. Implementing the resolution anchors the cooperation between sectors by
holding an ongoing dialogue for the purpose of achieving public objectives.
2. Implementing Government Resolution No. 4028 (2011), which relates to strengthening the governance, planning and performance capabilities of the government. This resolution addresses formulating policies and tools that will help government ministries plan and implement participatory processes in their fields, with the objectives of increasing citizens’ involvement in what is being done in the public arena and their contributions to decision-making processes, improving the implementation of the government’s policies and strengthening the relations and trust between the public and the government.
3. Holding consultation processes with the public in relation to transparency – implementation of Government Resolution No. 1933 (2016) to improve government information transfers and make government databases publicly accessible, during which, open and ongoing dialogue should be held with the public in relation to these issues.
4. Including the public in processes of improving regulation and reducing the bureaucratic burden, and in implementing the government resolution that addresses reducing the regulatory burden – (Resolution No. 2118, from 2014), which determines that stakeholders should be involved in every process. The resolution also relates to building suitable infrastructure for relevant government units to conduct these participatory processes.
5. Promoting processes of civic participation within the scope of handling socio-economic issues. Mandatory integration of processes of
civic participation in government decision-making relating to socio-economic issues, such as Government Resolution No. 324 (2015) –settings a government policy to promote the integration of Israeli citizens of Ethiopian origin in Israeli society.
6. Publishing government ministries’ work plans, including the key targets and tasks of every ministry in each year. The report is publicized and enables the public and civil society organizations to receive comprehensive information about government planning. The plan is being formulated while conducting participatory processes both inside and outside of the government.; Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable: Developing an online government platform to make processes of civic participation in the government publicly accessible
01.01.18
30.06.19
Training – offering workshops, conferences and meetings to raise awareness and build planning and implementation capabilities for processes of civic participation in government ministries and in support units
01.09.17
30.06.19
Creating and updating a methodology for planning and implementing processes of civic participation in the government’s various spheres of activity, including legislation, work plans, regulation, etc.
01.09.17
30.06.19
Formulating indicators for evaluating processes of civic participation in government endeavors and their operation
31.01.18
30.06.19 Increasing the number of participatory processes that will influence decision-making processes
01.10.18
30.06.19

1. Expanding the scope of civic participation processes in government ministries’ work, through inculcating the process and ensuring that the means to carry it out are publicly accessible

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan: [1]

“Improving decision-making and performance of government ministries through processes of civic participation, that include diverse target audiences. Processes of civic participation help minimizing the distance between government authorities and the public and civil society organizations, and enable decisions to be made after a more comprehensive image has been obtained.”

Milestones

1.1 Developing an online platform for making processes of civic participation publicly accessible.

1.2 Training – offering workshops, conferences and meetings to raise awareness and build planning and implementation capabilities for processes of civic participation in government ministries and in support units

1.3 Creating and updating a methodology for planning and implementing processes of civic participation in the government’s various spheres of activity, including legislation, work plans, regulation, etc.

1.4 Formulating indicators for evaluating processes of civic participation in government endeavors and their operation.

1.5 Increasing the number of participatory processes that will influence decision-making processes.

Start Date: January 2018

End Date: June 2019

Context and Objectives

This commitment stems from a decade-old government policy to increase public participation in decision-making processes in Israel. Several government resolutions have expressed commitment to this policy (such as resolution 4028 of November 2011). [2] While the policy was set in place, government officials involved in promoting civic participation believed the different agencies lack the know-how to actually carry out such processes. A commitment addressing this issue was included in Israel’s first action plan for 2012–2013 (Commitment 6 titled “Public Participation in Policy Making Processes”), but the IRM researchers could not find indications for its implementation and were told by government officials and civil society that the commitment goals were not achieved at that time. [3] Additionally, Commitments 8 in Israel’s second action plan (2015–2017) saw the development of online tools for public participation to be used by government agencies. [4]

This current commitment aims to enhance the ability and know-how of government agencies regarding how to incorporate civic participation into decision-making processes. More specifically, it calls for the development of an online platform for public participation, the creation of blueprints for such processes, awareness raising and training of relevant public officials, and the creation of indicators for evaluation of civic participation processes. The commitment is therefore relevant to the OGP values of access to information and civic participation.

While the commitment milestones are not specific, they are verifiable. One can verify whether the online platform is created, the volume of trainings that took place, and the creation of the new methodology and evaluation indicators. The potential impact of the commitment is difficult to discern for two reasons. First, government resolutions regarding the need to promote civic participation have existed since 2008. [5] Some of the commitment’s milestones represent activities declared several times previously. They were even included in Israel’s previous OGP action plan, as mentioned above. [6] Second, the milestones provide few details on their scale and scope. For instance, there is no mention of the number of government employees who will undergo training or the number of processes (or percent of all processes) that will include civic participation processes. Due to the overall lack of specificity, the potential impact of the commitment is considered minor.

Next steps

Due to the low potential impact, the IRM researchers do not recommend carrying this commitment forward to the next action plan. However, regarding the broader policy of public participation in decision-making processes, the IRM researchers recommend the following:

• Specific goals should be set for the scope of training for government officials and the number of trainings and number of participants in them should be assessed.
• Develop new commitments regarding public participation that will refer to public debriefing at the end of such processes and marketing efforts to increase public awareness of participation processes.
• Identify one or two specific fields in which verifiable quantitative goals for public participation will be set and then use those as a model.

1. Expanding the scope of civic participation processes in government ministries' work, through inculcating the process and ensuring that the means to carry it out are publicly accessible

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan: [1]

“Improving decision-making and performance of government ministries through processes of civic participation, that include diverse target audiences. Processes of civic participation help minimizing the distance between government authorities and the public and civil society organizations, and enable decisions to be made after a more comprehensive image has been obtained.”

Milestones
1.1 Developing an online platform for making processes of civic participation publicly accessible.

1.2 Training – offering workshops, conferences and meetings to raise awareness and build planning and implementation capabilities for processes of civic participation in government ministries and in support units

1.3 Creating and updating a methodology for planning and implementing processes of civic participation in the government’s various spheres of activity, including legislation, work plans, regulation, etc.

1.4 Formulating indicators for evaluating processes of civic participation in government endeavors and their operation.

1.5 Increasing the number of participatory processes that will influence decision-making processes.

Start Date: January 2018

End Date: June 2019

This commitment aimed to equip government ministries with advanced tools to carry out public participation processes. [2] A government policy encouraging public participation has been in place since 2011, [3] and through government resolutions as early as 2008. [4] Nevertheless, the expansion of public participation processes is hindered due to lack of know-how among those in the ministries who need to carry them out. Similar commitments were part of Israel’s first and second action plans. [5]

This comment was substantially completed. The activities carried out to expand and improve government public participation practices are significant, regardless of whether they follow the exact milestones laid out in the commitment. Looking at the milestones and their defined timeframe, implementations of some may have occurred after the declared deadline. An online platform for public participation (1.1) was launched and used during the development of this action plan. Trainings for public officials on public participation took place (1.2). Approximately 200 such trainings took place between 2017 and 2018, with up to 30 civil servants participating in each. They were divided into three different types of workshops: awareness-raising; skills development; and test-case analysis. These trainings targeted government employees on different levels in the government hierarchy (and some theme-based, such as training for gender-equality officers, training officers, regulators, and outsourcing directors). The methodology with indicators for evaluation (1.3 and 1.4) was developed and laid out in a government publication on the implementation of public participation processes. It includes detailed instructions on how to plan, prepare for, implement, and evaluate public participation processes. [6]

For Milestone 1.5, it was difficult to obtain information on the scope of implementation (number of processes carried out), as these were not reported to any central authority. However, the Prime Minister’s office stressed that it prefers “quality” of consultations over quantity, meaning they prefer in-depth processes with identified organizations and experts over open, more inclusive processes. [7] This may indicate some limitations that should be addressed, yet it does represent a plausible approach to the issue.

The progress made under this commitment is supported by significant budget allocations as well as human resources. Five employees dedicated to these goals were hired in the PM’s office and carried out trainings, [8] and the Director-General of the PM’s office issued directives to ministries. These together deliver a clear message to civil servants that the government is taking these processes seriously. Such a message is important for a policy to take its own course, regardless of any specific milestone and often beyond it.

The commitment’s implementation has so far led to positive, but marginal, changes to public consultation practices in Israel for two reasons. First, the commitment as implemented represents an expansion of a pre-existing policy. Namely, it is an evolution from a 2008 government resolution and several high-profile processes have occurred in the past under this policy (on topics such as preparation of the “home front” for emergency times and integration of immigrants from Ethiopia). The commitment was mostly aimed at improving (and perhaps in the future, expanding) an existing course of action. Second, the processes remained mostly confined to semi-closed circles of civil society organizations, focused on specific issues for which the government reached out. Hence, the information relevant to them was mostly shared with individuals within those circles. In spite of the importance of pro-active “qualitative” public participation processes, the IRM researchers recommend that the government explore tools to allow for substantial participation of wider circles among members of the public.

[1] “Open Government Action Plan for 2018–2019”, Government OCT Authority, pp. 13–16, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Israel_Action-Plan_2017-2019_EN.pdf

[2] For a more detailed description of the commitment, see: Guy Dayan & Roy Peled, “Israel Design Report 2017–2019”, Independent Reporting Mechanism, 18 October 2019, pg. 16, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/israel-design-report-2017-2019/.

[3] Resolution 4028 of 25 December 2011, titled “Strengthening the governance, planning and implementation abilities of the government”.

[4] Government resolution 3190 of 24 February 2008. For a detailed description of the policy (as of 2008), see “Government of Israel, the Civil Society and the Business Community: Partnership, Empowerment and Transparency”, Department of Policy Planning, Prime Minister’s Office, February 2008, http://www.pmo.gov.il/policyplanning/shituf/Documents/PolicyENG.pdf.

[5] For the first action plan, see Commitment 6 in the Israel IRM progress report (2012–2013), available at: “Israel IRM Progress Report 2012–2013”, Independent Reporting Mechanism, 23 October 2015, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/israel-irm-progress-report-2012-2013; For the second, see Commitment 8, available at: “Israel End-of-Term Report 2015–2017”, Independent Reporting Mechanism, 28 June 2018, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/israel-end-of-term-report-2015-2017-year-2/.

[6] “Guide for Public Participation in Government Work”, Department of Policy Planning, Prime Minister’s Office, December 2017, available [in Hebrew] at http://www.pmo.gov.il/policyplanning/shituf/Documents/all%20web.pdf.

[7] Sivan Vardi, government Point of Contact for OGP, phone interview by IRM researcher, 5 November 2019.

[8] As of 2017, about 200 workshops were transferred, with about 30 people taking part in each workshop. In addition, the Prime Minister's Office held three conferences attended by about 300 government officials (overall).