Public Consultation
Policy
Public trust is an essential component of successful government and this trust must be earned, not through tokenistic initiatives but through open, transparent and participatory policy-making. Such participatory policy-making demands a system of transparency that is not a common feature of public sector administration. While this opaqueness is not necessarily by design, poor systems will no longer excuse poor public consultation and citizen engagement. Transparency encourages engagement, and engagement strengthens democracy. Stronger democracy allows for more effectiveness in government by promoting accountability at every level. The tools and technologies exist to facilitate open and transparent government. The events of 2020/2021 drove technology into the majority of Irish households, accelerating digital adoption rates for individuals by up to a decade. To keep the momentum of this citizen ICT revolution going for the betterment of the nation, it is not enough for people to trust the Government, the Government must trust its people.
Best Practice
Best practice in public consultation is not ‘consultation’ at all, but rather encouraging public participation. However, given Ireland’s statutory public consultation processes that must be adhered to, policy changes will be required before truly best practice can be achieved. In the interim, PCII has established a set of founding principles for dealing with citizen engagement on a statutory and non-statutory basis by State, Semi-State and private sector organisations. While these principles comprise on and offline methodologies, a digital-first approach is fast becoming best practice. The Irish Government has established three key principles of consultation that hold true, irrespective of the method of consultation, these are: (i) consultation should aim to achieve genuine engagement and ‘real listening’ rather than being a pro-forma exercise for bureaucratic purposes; (ii) consultation should be targeted at and easily accessible to those with a clear interest in the policy in question; and (iii) Government departments and agencies should make systematic efforts to ensure that interested and affected parties have the opportunity to take part in open consultations at all stages of the policy process - development, implementation, evaluation, and review.
Outreach
Before a campaign can successfully engage with citizens, it must first reach those citizens. Citizen outreach is all about providing accurate and easily accessible information, across all devices and none. While PCII advocates a digital-first approach to public consultation and community engagement, digital lockout is a very real concern and one that must be factored into outreach strategies. Outreach campaigns range from traditional posters in the local library and supermarket, or simple online polls on local issues, right through to online consultation rooms or ‘virtual town halls’. Digital tools are playing an increasingly important role in engaging citizens, and this includes social media, which requires a more nuanced approach. The method of outreach must be tailored to suit the subject matter, the intended audience and the desired actions or outcomes. Whatever the method of outreach, citizen feedback must be captured through a two-way platform rather than by interpreting comments on social media.
Technology
Technology is transforming how the Government interacts with its citizens and how they, in turn, interact with their Government. This shift has the potential to bring more people into the public participatory process. Not only will this expand public participation, early studies suggest that it is likely to enhance the diversity of participation, which is the goal of all outward-looking governments. Technologies currently in use include two-way platforms in place of traditional one-way websites to keep citizens informed and to capture feedback in real time; immersive technologies, and augmented reality in particular, to allow citizens to ‘experience’ and truly understand proposed changes to their neighbourhood; Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to measure behaviours and/or prompt action; and gamification of everyday activities to teach good citizenship. Teaching people ‘how to citizen’ (as a verb, per Baratunde Thurston’s groundbreaking work) could potentially reimagine the relationship between citizens and their Governments.
Enabling Digital Government
Government agencies and departments, similar to private sector organisations over the past decade, are undergoing a process of digital transformation. Given the immensity of the undertaking, this is taking time. While the process will vary from agency to agency, or department to department, at a basic level this involves simplifying information, communication and engagement within the state bodies, and between the Government and citizens. The move to a more digitised approach enables greater transparency for citizens, which is expected and demanded. As citizens become more informed and engaged in public life, there is a heightened expectation around ease of communications. Also, technology empowers government to include citizens in transparent policy-making in a very real and meaningful way, making the interaction between government and citizens more effective and responsive.