an Eldis Resource
Handbook on information, consultation and public participation in policy making
Practical experiences of public consultation for policy making in the context of OECD countries
Authors:
M. Gramberger
Publisher:
OECD Development Centre, 2001
Practitioner’s guide designed for use by government officials. It offers a practical “road map” for building robust frameworks for informing, consulting and engaging citizens during policy-making. The policy lessons and examples provided in the Handbook are drawn from the OECD report entitled “Citizens as Partners: Information, Consultation and Public Participation in Policy-making”.
The handbook explores the background, pressures and objectives for governments to become active in strengthening their relations with citizens. It:
- explores what government-citizen relations are, why to strengthen them, and what are the costs.
- offers examples, tools and guiding principles. They cover building a framework for strengthening government-citizen relations, planning and acting strategically, choosing and using the tools, and benefiting from information and communication technology (ICT).They also present ten guiding principles developed by the OECD and show how to put them into practice when informing, consulting and engaging citizens in policy-making.
- provides tips to follow, based on practical experience, and hints on where to get further information. This lists sources for further exploration of strengthening government-citizen relations – including the original OECD report and policy brief on which this handbook is based.
