The Tribune

THIS week is guest editorial week at The Tribune - we have invited a series of contributors to offer their views on different issues throughout the week. Today’s editorial is written by Matthew Aubry, executive director of the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG).

GLOBALLY and regionally, the meaningful involvement of citizens in governance has been recognised as fostering greater and more sustainable social and economic growth. The United Nations, World Bank, Organisation of American States, and CARICOM have all identified citizen engagement as crucial to the success of the democratic process.

Additionally, the participation of citizens is one of the eight principles of good governance, which frames the mission of the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG) and drives our work in civic education and engagement.

Through our work, ORG has observed that ongoing civic participation levels are minimal other than turnout for elections.

A knowledge gap around governance among citizens is a contributory factor.

Additionally, few regular opportunities for citizens to engage in processes of national decision-making limit important citizen input from being factored into matters related to national development and sustainable growth.

Although some efforts at public consultation have occurred across the past few administrations, these are inconsistent and sporadic, making citizens’ roles and impact in governance unclear.

Public consultation, as a critical measure of democracy, enables members of the public to engage in governance, encouraging them to make contributions and monitor the integration of their inputs into public policy, which increases buy-in. It facilitates two-way communication, allowing opinions to be shared, problems identified, and proposals evaluated.

In The Bahamas, a lack of a standardised public consultation process has contributed to less effective policies that lean to the benefit of the government over citizen’s interests. Additionally, no standardised, transparent, and consistent consultative approach perpetuates the political back and forth of a ‘Yellow versus Red’ five-year cycle of laws that slows the momentum of national development.

In researching public consultation globally and from regional sources, ORG has developed a position paper that suggests that public consultation should go beyond simple notifications to the public on current and pending policy changes to facilitate two-way communication through which opinions may be shared, problems identified, and proposals evaluated.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association recommends the public consultation model offered by the paper.

It looks at low-cost, high-impact methods for educating and engaging stakeholders in the formative stage of the policy process, using the issuance of green papers, white papers, and a clearly defined and sufficient timeline for public review and input.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), value-added tax implementation (VAT), relief efforts for Hurricanes Dorian, Maria, Joaquin, and Matthew, Disabilities Act, and amendments to the Employment and Industrial Labour Relations Act are examples where input from civil society and private industry has influenced legislation and policies in The Bahamas for the better.

Accessible, safe, and meaningful opportunities for the public to get involved are required for effective citizen engagement.

To this end, ORG created free online tools on its digital Citizen Solution Centre.

It includes the Policy Review Centre, which allows citizens to find and read bills tabled in the House of Assembly and provides a way to send legislators suggestions, recommendations, or endorsements.

However, with no standardised consultation system, the public may only see the bills for the first time a week or so before they are debated, leaving little time to understand and formulate an opinion.

Additionally, as many bills can be complex, citizens may not always be able to sift through the legislation to determine its potential impact on their lives or communities.

The importance of citizen engagement in governance and policy development is vital, and ORG calls on the government and private sector to consider our position paper.

Adopting a more transparent, standardised, and proactive consultative process can leverage citizens as resources to increase awareness and create a dialogue with stakeholder groups to better express their points of view and have their opinions considered alongside those they oppose or challenge.

ORG focuses on equipping Bahamians with the tools they need to be active citizens.

It is committed to realising a better Bahamas by creating dialogue, insights, and solutions around the challenges affecting accountable governance, economic development, education reform, and civil society capacity building. ORG position papers and more information about its initiatives can be found at orgbahamas.com.

All are invited to “Get Informed and Get Involved”.