Improve Public Participation in Government (US0027)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: United States Second Action Plan 2013-2015
Action Plan Cycle: 2013
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: White House, General Services Administration
Support Institution(s): NA
Policy Areas
Capacity Building, Democratizing Decision-Making, Public Participation, Regulatory GovernanceIRM Review
IRM Report: United States End-of-Term Report 2013-2015, United States Progress Report 2013-2015
Early Results:
Major
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): Low
Implementation i
Description
In the first NAP, the Administration expanded opportunities for public participation in government,
recognizing the value of the American public as a strategic partner in solving some of the country’s
most difficult challenges. The United States is committed to continuing to expand public participation in
government and will:
- Expand and Simplify the Use of We the People. In 2014, the White House will introduce
improvements to We the People that will make petitioning the Government easier and more
effective. These improvements will enhance public participation by creating a more streamlined
process for signing petitions and a new Application Programming Interface (API) that will allow
third parties to collect and submit signatures to We the People petitions from their own
websites. These improvements will also enhance transparency by enabling the public to perform
data analysis on the signatures and petitions. The White House will publish a software
development kit to help people build tools using the We the People API and will engage with the
public on improvements to the API and expansion of its use.
- Publish Best Practices and Metrics for Public Participation. In the first National Action Plan,
the Administration committed to identify best practices for public participation in government
and to suggest metrics that would allow agencies to assess progress toward this goal. Over the
past two years, the Administration consulted with the public, civil society stakeholders, and
academics on how best to implement this initiative from the first National Action Plan. In 2014,
the United States will continue these efforts and publish best practices and metrics for public
participation.