Citizen Participation in Policy-Making (KR0042)

Government Innovation Citizen Forum to Realize Participatory Democracy
Commitment Start and End Date
September 1, 2018 ~ August 31, 2020
Lead Implementing Agency/Actor
Innovation Planning Division, Ministry of the Interior and Safety
Commitment Description
What is the public problem that the commitment will address?
As the Gwanghwamoon 1st Street project indicates, citizens’ demand for participation in the policy-making process has increased. The need for government innovation is not an exception. When it comes to government innovation, previous governments designed government-led strategies with limited citizen participation. As a result, their effort failed to bring about changes that the public could actually feel though they created internal innovation. The Moon administration, on the other hand, has engaged the public in the policy-making process with a notion that policy is created and implemented for the people; therefore, the purpose of the Moon administration’s government innovation is to transform the public’s opinions into policy. To do so, diverse mechanisms are needed to make change.
What is the commitment?
The purpose of this commitment is to introduce and apply a governance system and mechanism to facilitate government innovation based on citizen participation. In relation to the governance system and mechanism, various organizations including Government Innovation Citizen Forum, the Government Innovation Committee and Government Innovation Support Unit have been established to involve all citizens who would like to participate as agents of innovation in policy making. Against this backdrop, relevant regulations (a presidential instruction) regarding the establishment and operation of the Government Innovation Committee and the Government Innovation Support Unit were laid out to provide institutional support. Also, an online channel to operate the Government Innovation Citizen Forum will be opearated. Government innovation tasks which draw the public’s interest or require the public’s opinions will be selected and put into a yes-orno vote. The tasks with more than a certain number of yes votes are to be submitted to the committee. Finally, the tasks deliberated by the Committee are to be submitted to a government innovation strategy meeting chaired by the president
How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?
The detailed implementation methods are as follows: 1) to establish and operate the Government Innovation Citizen Forum that spearhead policy making and improvement by shifting from the top-down approach where policy making on government innovation is solely done by the government to inclusive governance, engaging the public; to establish and operate the Government Innovation Support Unit dedicated to effectively operate the Government Innovation Citizen Forum; if offline discussions are needed to foster the operation of public forums, the Support Unit would carry out various support measures such as hosting discussions at innovation spaces including the Open Communication Forum and the Innovation Park, sharing the outcome of the discussions online, and facilitating the submission of outstanding cases to the Committee; Government Innovation Citizen Forum are to be in charge of monitoring the results of government innovation initiatives which are available online at all times and sharing collected opinions; 2) to establish and operate the Public Evaluation Group which allows citizens to participate in the actual evaluation process; 3) to establish and operate an online channel where policy proposals on government innovation could be applied, suggested, reviewed and selected.
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Enhancing Transparency / Citizen Participation
Exchange and Peer Learning
N/A
Additional Information
N/A
Milestone Activity with a Verifiable Deliverable
Launching the Government Innovation Public Forum Bureau
Operating Government Innovation Public Forums
Contact Information
Name of Responsible Person from Implementing Agency
Myeongjin Lee Hyeonmo Seong
Title, Division
Deputy Director, Innovation Planning Division Senior Deputy Director, Innovation Planning Division
Email and Phone
lmj777@korea.kr, +82-2-2100-4145
Other Actors Involved,
N/A

6. Government Innovation Citizen Forum to Realize Participatory Democracy

Commitment Text:

"Government Innovation Citizen Forum to Realize Participatory Democracy"

The purpose of this commitment is to introduce and apply a governance system and mechanism to facilitate government innovation based on citizen participation. In relation to the governance system and mechanism, various organizations including Government Innovation Citizen Forum, the Government Innovation Committee and Government Innovation Support Unit have been established to involve all citizens who would like to participate as agents of innovation in policy making. Against this backdrop, relevant regulations (a presidential instruction) regarding the establishment and operation of the Government Innovation Committee and the Government Innovation Support Unit were laid out to provide institutional support. Also, an online channel to operate the Government Innovation Citizen Forum will be opearated. Government innovation tasks which draw the public's interest or require the public's opinions will be selected and put into a yes-orno vote.

The detailed implementation methods are as follows:

1) to establish and operate the Government Innovation Citizen Forum that spearhead policy making and improvement by shifting from the top-down approach where policy making on government innovation is solely done by the government to inclusive governance, engaging the public; to establish and operate the Government Innovation Support Unit dedicated to effectively operate the Government Innovation Citizen Forum; if offline discussions are needed to foster the operation of public forums, the Support Unit would carry out various support measures such as hosting discussions at innovation spaces including the Open Communication Forum and the Innovation Park, sharing the outcome of the discussions online, and facilitating the submission of outstanding cases to the Committee; Government Innovation Citizen Forum are to be in charge of monitoring the results of government innovation initiatives which are available online at all times and sharing collected opinions;

2) to establish and operate the Public Evaluation Group which allows citizens to participate in the actual evaluation process;

3) to establish and operate an online channel where policy proposals on government innovation could be applied, suggested, reviewed and selected.

Milestones:

• Launching the Government Innovation Public Forum Bureau
• Operating Government Innovation Public Forums

Start Date: 1 September 2018 End Date: 31 August 2020

Editorial Note: For the full text of the commitment, please see Korea's 4th National Action Plan 2018-2020 at https://bit.ly/2JvQr98.

Context and Objectives

Recent years have seen innovative tools for citizen engagement and participation in decision-making, such as the above-mentioned Gwanghwamoon 1^st Street, People's Voice, Blue House Petition, and People's Idea Box. This commitment is in line with the overall policy of the government to increase citizen engagement in innovative ways.

The purpose of this commitment is to increase citizen participation in government decision-making by introducing new mechanisms for collecting citizen input on government innovations. The commitment will create a Government Innovation Citizen Forum and the Innovation Support Unit to manage its administrative operations and functioning. The Forum, envisioned as an open platform for public engagement and participation, will review, discuss, and advance proposals on government policy and innovation. The Innovation Support Unit will be in charge of overall administrative work to support the smooth operation of the Forum. According to the government, the proposed Forum will comprise of public representatives and delegates selected from a Steering Committee, appointed to oversee Forum operations.

This commitment is verifiable as it includes measurable milestones such as creating the Innovation Forum, the Support Unit, and the Public Evaluation Group to receive, discuss, and evaluate public proposals on government policy and innovation. While the commitment describes implementation steps, it does not clearly identify what is meant by "government innovations" or whether it includes specific sectors or policies. The commitment does not provide clear targets for the number of policy areas to be discussed within the commitment timeframe, nor does it specify the number of members or participants in the envisioned Forum.

This commitment is relevant to the OGP value of civic participation as it creates new mechanisms for citizens to inform policymaking and offer policy proposals on government innovation. It is also relevant to technology and innovation as it entails the creation and operation of an online channel to operate the Forum.

This commitment stands to have moderate potential impact. Although the Korean government has already established prominent channels for citizen participation [31] this commitment adds value to existing initiatives by creating a dedicated and organized forum for citizen participation in advancing and maturing proposals on government policy and innovation. However, as the commitment does not outline the reach of the forum in terms of the type or number of policy areas to be discussed, the full scope of this commitment cannot be assessed.

Next steps

In designing similar commitments in future action plans, the IRM recommends outlining targeted milestones with expected outcomes such as potential policy areas to be discussed, number of participants, and expected outcomes. Specifically:

• Consider documenting and analyzing discussions and proposals when setting up the next phase of Public Innovation Forum; and
• Evaluation of the Forum activities, including the work of the proposed Public Evaluation Group, should focus on user experience, the number of submitted proposals, feedback mechanisms, and the number of ideas discussed and taken up by the government.

6. Government Innovation Citizen Forum to Realize Participatory Democracy

Complete:

A Government Innovation Citizen Forum, committee, and support unit were established by presidential instruction. Two public forums were held in October 2018 and 2019. There is no publicly available information on the outcomes of the forum.