Post on 16-May-2015
description
transcript
The Citizens’ initiative as a
method of grassroots participation
Experiences from Slovenia
Blaž Palir Government Communication Office
Republic of Slovenia
Participation
Consultations
5.000 citizens can put forward a legislation proposal to
the Slovenian parliament
Petitions
Direct Communication with citizens
Answering questions
Receiving and responding to suggestions
What is missing?
Suggestions and responses should be public
Public scrutiny over the government answers
Lower number of recurring suggestions
Government cares
Suggestions should be collective
Citizens should choose the most relevant suggestions
Getting the project approved
Goal: adoption of a regulation requiring ministries and
government offices to prepare the answers in 20 days
after receiving the initiative
Good practice - Estonia TID+
Registered users create suggestions
Checked by moderator before being published
Debate (14 days)
Amendments possible
Voting (7 days 14 days)
Answers published online (30 days)
Open source TID+
Based upon years of practical experience and academic
research
No development – saving time and money
No licenses
Fears
citizens will not take time to register Facebook Connect (Open Graph)
citizens will not participate, if they cannot remain anonymous only need a valid e-mail
inappropriate comments checked and deleted if necessary
the interest of people will be so small, that the suggestions will be adopted with just few votes voting quorum
users will lose interest weekly newsletter
government ministries and agencies will not respond on time or the quality of their answers would be poor
The big bang
going public
at 5 pm on Wednesday, 11. November 2009
in the first 24 hours we received 95 suggestions
Statistics - after 2 years
5,965 registered users
Users
Age
Average age of users is 40 years; average age of Slovenian
citizens is 41 years.
13% are younger than 24 years
50% are between ages 24 and 45
37% are older than 45 years
Education
57% have college or university degrees
Slovenia: 25%
Statistics - after 2 years
5,965 registered users
2,105 suggestions (3 per day) 285 were rejected by moderators
12,494 comments (9 per suggestion) max 441
20,823 votes (15 per suggestion) max 991
469 suggestion (35%) got the majority support and were forwarded for answering
Response time
24 days on average 53% published before the 20-day deadline set by the
government regulation
80% in 30 day or less, as promised to users
91% of answers are prepared in 40 day or less
Responses
39% - negative
47% - the solution in place already effectively addresses the issue or something similar will be implemented shortly
10% - the suggestion is one of the possible solutions, but the government has not yet decided on how to proceed
3% (13) got a positive response 8 already implemented
Positive answers
micro issues
lower Value Added Tax on washable dippers
lower duties on vehicles used for transportation of disabled
THE ISSUE
Quality of government responses
justified rejection or acceptance of proposals
thorough analysis of the proposal
Remedies
designated coordinators
raising the bar
Further modifications
Voting in debate stage
Now possible
Users want to follow the implementation of
adopted suggestions
New government – new game plan
Lifting the significance of the platform
Getting the Prime Minister involved – supporting
particular suggestions
Good for the platform and PM’s PR
Is it a success ?
Received predominately positive responses from users,
academia and media
Is it a success ?
Received predominately positive responses from users,
academia and media
operational in less than 6 months
16,257.00 € spent in 2 years
unexpected numbers
Slovenia on the UN e-participation index
2003 – rank 36
2004 – rank 41
2005 – rank 46
2008 – rank 55
2010 – rank 20