80250 June 2013, Number 101 MENA AND PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS Lida Bteddini 1 government functions. The integration of consultation mechanisms throughout the Introduction: Civic engagement, in its most policymaking process has proved to be a basic form, is about participative decision- valuable instrument to help strengthen making. It is anchored in the belief that: (i) government-citizen interaction and improve people have the right to define the public good the quality of government policies on key and to shape related public policies and that (ii) development areas by leading to better this process will lead to better and more designed development projects, more effective sustainable outcomes. The idea of civic service delivery, and improvements in the participation is as old as the idea of democracy targeting of benefits. By making preliminary and has existed in many different cultures policy analysis available for public scrutiny, throughout history, from ancient stakeholders are provided with a means to Mesopotamia’s Sumerian civilization and initial inform the development of a policy or its moves towards a simple “democracy� to the implementation. Consultation also helps sophisticated political analysis of the ancient regulators to balance opposing interests and to Greeks (especially Plato and his student identify unintended effects while ensuring Aristotle but others as well). This early thinking transparency to minimize administrative on the rule of law, voting, free speech, the right burdens and reduce corruption and rent- of assembly and equal representation has seeking. When successful, public participation evolved to form the basic pillars of democratic can have a transformative impact by providing systems worldwide. Today, international citizens with a platform for active engagement experience reaffirms the importance of in the development process, and allows citizens maintaining an ongoing dialogue between the to hold governments to account and to better government and citizens as an integral part to influence decisions that affect their lives. efficient policymaking. Legal Frameworks for Public Consultation: The Benefits of Participative Decision- Legal frameworks for public consultation vary Making: The intrinsic value of public greatly across different countries. Public consultation is evident as it strengthens consultation is enshrined in the constitutions of citizenship and enables a more inclusive civic South Africa and Switzerland, and as a engagement. The extrinsic value of statutory duty in other settings. One example of consultation, while difficult to quantify, also the latter is agency rulemaking in the United has an important impact on a wide-range of States. Legislation on public consultation may be broad (e.g. establishing petition rights or 1The author works in the Public Sector and Governance consultative referenda) or restrictive in scope Unit (MNSPS) of the World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa Region. . This Quick Note was cleared by MNSPS (e.g. requiring consultation with trade unions, Sector Manager Guenter Heidenhof. professional associations or indigenous peoples representatives, and constitutional/statutory during policy-making). In other contexts, bodies like Equality and Human Rights consultation mechanisms are not bound by a Commissions (UK and South Africa), the legal force or punitive law enforcement Conseil d’Etat (France) and the European measures and many countries have adopted Economic and Social Commission (EU). codes of practice to set basic criteria for conducting consultation on draft laws and MENA and Public Consultations: While the regulations. One example is the code of practice benefits of public consultation are widely on consultation adopted by the United recognized, the MENA region still lags in the Kingdom which presents criteria and domain of public engagement, especially in guidelines on good consultation practices for regards to providing citizens with mechanisms government policy development. This also aims to engage effectively in the design, to improve the transparency, responsiveness implementation, and evaluation of public and accessibility of consultations by providing policy. A brief overview of the MENA region clear basic guidelines to reduce the burden of across a wide-set of governance indicators engaging in policy making. Similar consultation clearly indicates significant weaknesses, and guidance documents can be found in Canada particularly on issues of accountability, public and the European Union (EU). Several EU engagement and transparency, when compared members require public consultation on new to world averages. According to most recent regulations in the context of regulatory impact Global Integrity indicators, an assessment of assessment procedures (RIA) in line with the selected MENA countries reveals that, on 1995 OECD Council Recommendation on average, countries perform substantially worse Improving the Quality of Government Regulation. than comparable global averages in virtually every category.2 Country scores range from Implementation Issues: In terms of 13% lower on anticorruption and rule of law to implementation, there are a range of tools that 24% lower on civil society, public information can be useful in promoting public consultation and the media. Linking key findings of this on draft laws and regulations. the most index with recent uprisings in the MENA effective approach is dependent on who is to be region sheds light on the political, economic consulted and the communication toolsto be and social dynamics which, coupled with used. Governments have introduced different significant governance inefficiencies, have methods to receive feedback on policy issues shaken up the existing political and economic and draft legislation including through opinion structures in the region. The current transitions polls and surveys, or through comment and in MENA present an opportunity to push notice periods. Some methods provide greater forward reforms in the area of public levels of interaction for consultation than others engagement in response to demands for greater such as public hearings, focus groups, citizen public participation in the development panels and workshops, which are most process. effective with smaller groups of citizens. Furthermore, with the greater use of ICT, some Moving Forward in Jordan and Morocco: governments utilize ICT to receive feedback Greater government accountability and public and consultation on draft laws and regulations participation will be essential elements for utilizing e-mails posted on government strengthening institutions and government websites, email lists, and online forums. In 2 For more see globalintegrity.org. Countries covered in some contexts, there may be special procedures this analysis include Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, for specific groups, such as NGOs, industry Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, the West Bank & Gaza and Yemen. June 2013 · Number 101· 2 functioning. Through its efforts on open implementation of reforms. Furthermore, government reform in line with the Open expanding the scope of consultation will also Government Partnership3, Jordan has expand the scope for social accountability and established a dedicated interactive website at result in better targeted policies in line with the Legislative and Opinion Bureau/Prime citizen demands. Ministry by which the public and civil society can access and express views on pending In implementing consultation processes, many legislation, regulations, and policy issues. In countries in MENA and beyond are faced with Morocco, increased citizen engagement in challenges relating to public confidence in government decision-making is solidified government. This broad mistrust can translate through articles 12-15 of the new Constitution into weak confidence in the credibility of a revised in 2011, which introduce principles of consultation process. There will be questions on democratic participation and provide a whether government efforts are sincere in platform for civil society to be an integral part taking public views into account and whether in state consultations. This right extends across the consultation process will indeed result in different stages, from pre-planning to the better outcomes. Lessons from international evaluation of public policies. The new experience can help shape and inform the Constitution also provides for the creation of an development of a systematic and trusted public organic law determining the conditions of the consultation mechanism. For example, right to citizen petitions. Current efforts include engaging citizens from the onset of a policy the launch of a national dialogue to build process will help to build momentum for public consensus on translating new change. Ensuring that consultations are constitutional rights into a legal and policy followed by feedback mechanisms to illustrate framework for CSO engagement. constructive outputs will help to instill confidence in the process and ensure that Conclusion: While Morocco’s Constitutional expectations are met on both sides. reform and Jordan’s e-gov initiatives are important in enhancing transparency and accountability, the challenge is translating these efforts into institutionalized mechanisms for participatory planning and public consultation. This will necessitate a move towards a mode of governance focused on citizen satisfaction and government performance. This will also provide an opportunity to strengthen dialogue between government and civil society and to strengthen the consensus around the 3 The Open Government Partnership is a new multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. In the spirit of multi-stakeholder collaboration, OGP is overseen by a steering committee of governments and civil society organizations. Currently, Jordan is the only member country of the OGP represented from the MENA region, though with World Bank support Morocco and Tunisia are working towards meeting eligibility criteria. www.opengovernmentpartnership.org June 2013 · Number 101· 3