Beyond the hindrances: experiences of public consultations and the possibility of ethics and relevance in participation (original) (raw)
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The author would like to thank the participants at various conferences where these ideas were developed, various colleagues, including The author would like to thank the participants at various conferences where these ideas were developed, various colleagues, including Professors Gordon Anthony and Amnon Reichman, and the editor and anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions. 1 There is of course a worldwide and international context for consultation. The United Nations Agenda 21 on sustainable development calls for "the broadest public participation" and urges "the active involvement of the non-governmental organizations and other groups" (see https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf). The European Commission is attempting to redress the disconnect with its institutions felt by many of its citizens through a variety of initiatives including a "Your voice in Europe" consultation webpage and its Citizens' Dialogue initiative (see http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/index\_en.htm, and http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-dialogues/ (visited 14 th February 2017). See also D Friedrich, Democratic Participation and Civil Society in the European Union (Manchester: Manchester University Press 2011). Green paper followed by White Paper, with perhaps a little discussion with interested groups or lobbyists, has given way to a more elaborate processes seeking the views of a wider range of interests. 2 Despite the fact that, as Davidson and Elstub point out, the culture of democracy and nature of government structures in the UK have never been particularly suited to deliberation, 3 there have been a variety of experiments over the last quarter century. These have involved citizen juries, deliberative polls and participatory budgeting, sometimes with an information and communication technology (ICT) element. 4 However most consultations are more prosaic, with the online element restricted to a webpage containing a link to a .pdf document. The UK Government's website page for "Consultations" lists 698 consultations published in 2016 alone, out of a total of 3,642 since the decade began. 5 Devolution has intensified the emphasis on consultation. The Northern Ireland Act 1998 initially led the way through its s. 75 requirement that public authorities promote equality of opportunity, and consult widely about the effect of their policies on persons of different sex, religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status or sexual orientation, and those with a disability or with dependents. The Scottish Ministerial Code commits the Scottish Government "to develop procedures which make possible a participative approach to the development, consideration and scrutiny of policy and legislation", and it has established a "Consultation Hub". 6 Participatory budgeting too has received a boost in Scotland with a commitment in 2016 to spend an extra half million pounds in this way. 7 In Wales there is not only a list of consultations online but the Council for Voluntary Action maintains a webpage detailing consultations from various 2
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