Engaging the Public in National Budgeting:
A Non-Governmental Perspective
Susan Tanaka
Senior Budget Officials from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe
Vilnius, Lithuania
March 20, 2007
Overview
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The problem: Why be concerned about public
engagement in national budgeting?
What is public engagement?
What can budget officials do to support it? (with
examples)
What can others do to support it? (with examples)
Why Public Engagement? Goals
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Good Government: Improve Efficiency, Transparency,
Accountability
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Better-functioning democracy
Improved citizen oversight
Greater trust in government
Better Budget Outcomes: Create a constituency for
fiscal responsibility
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Better informed and more realistic citizens
Build support for responsible fiscal policies that require
establishment of priorities, trade-offs and compromise to find
common ground
Problem: The potential for a wide--and
serious--disconnect between citizens and
leaders
What Citizens See
What Leaders See
•“Black box” of budgeting and
•People “wanting it all” but
decision-making
unwilling to pay for it
•Powerful special interests
•An uninformed public that has
and partisanship
little of value to offer policy
making
•Little of value being done to
•Apathetic citizens who do not
address challenges
want to be engaged
•Experts are running the show
•Activists hijack all attempts at
public dialogue
Source: Viewpoint Learning, 2004
The Cost of Citizens’ Mistrust of
Government
The main obstacle to building public support
for difficult choices on our nation’s finances
and future is not public opposition to tax
increases or program cuts, nor is it lack of
interest; the main obstacle is deeply felt and
pervasive mistrust of government.
“Americans Deliberate Our Nation’s Finances and Future: It’s Not About Taxes--It’s
About Trust”
Viewpoint Learning
An Opportunity
Citizens are:
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Eager to become engaged, but lack opportunities
Able and willing to address complex policy issues
Willing to set aside initial biases and opinions to learn,
discuss, debate and compromise
Willing to accept unpopular tax increases and spending
cuts as long as two conditions met:
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Solve the problem
Everyone contributes to the solution
--Findings from The Exercise in Hard Choices
What is Public Engagement?
Existing Emphasis: Consultation and Control
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OECD: government connects with citizens to close
distance and create a two-way flow of information
to counter public cynicism and mistrust
World Bank: citizens at large or through organized
civil society organizations (CSOs) work directly or
indirectly to influence decisions and make
government more responsive and accountable
(social accountability)
Problem: Public engagement concepts that
work at the municipal level don’t work at the
national level
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Practical barriers to greater citizen participation
multiplied at the national level
‣ Distance is the reality--proximity not possible
‣ Issues are NOT local: instead are very complicated
‣ Scale is a factor--individual citizens cannot have influence
Consultation: How much weight to uninformed
opinion?
Control: How much decision-making to cede to citizens?
Solution: Broader Concept that Suits
National Requirements
New Focus: Education and Better Information
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Public engagement = people’s expression of their
commitment to their community through participation
in civic and political life*
Building civic capacity: informed public judgment
about issues
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Target general public--unorganized individuals or those
affiliated to CSOs
Promote understanding of budget policy
Provide a context to weigh common objectives and
improve community life
* From Philanthropy for Active Citizen Engagement.--U.S. organization of private charities and foundations that fund engagement activities
What Can Budget Officials Do?
OECD’s Framework for Interaction with Citizens:
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Information--Top down: one-way flow
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Passive--available for anyone who seeks it out
Active--government makes an effort to get the public’s
attention
Consultation--Top down/Bottom up: Two-way flow of
information
Direct Engagement--citizen participation in the
decision making process. (Not applicable at national
level)
Focus on Information:
Enabling Public Engagement
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Pre-requisite to an informed public debate
Virtuous cycle: Information-transparency-accountabilityengagement-more information-greater transparencyimproved accountability-more engagement . . . .
No excuses: Technology-driven expectations for disclosure of
budget information and growing limitations on government’s
ability to control
Quality more important than quantity
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Accurate and credible
Comprehensive
Timely
Accessible--presentation and organization
Information
Budget Office Websites
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Best offense:
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Direct, unfiltered communication to citizens
Demonstrates openness and enhances credibility
Best defense:
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Information vacuum eases proliferation of misinformation
Official information provides common frame of reference
Information
Examples: Budget Office Websites
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Passive Information
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U.S., Office of Management and Budget: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
Australia, graphs, Commonwealth Budget:
http://www.budget.gov.au/2006-07/overview/html/overview_30.htm
Department of Finance, Canada, multimedia presentation,
Where Your Tax Dollar Goes:
http://www.fin.gc.ca/taxdollar06/mm/taxdollars0506_e.html
2 clicks
Information
Examples: Budget Office Websites
(continued)
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Active-Interactive Sites
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France: Ministry of Economics and Finance Forum de la
Performance: http://www.performance-publique.gouv.fr/
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BudgetFlash
Cyberbudget
UK: HM Treasury 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review:
http://csr07.treasury.gov.uk/
Consultation
Examples: Government-Sponsored
Active Listening / Public Education
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Electronic Discussion (asynchronous)
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France: Les Forums --How to reduce the public debt:
http://www.forums.gouv.fr/article_archive.php3?id_article=115
On-Line Public Consultation
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Canada: Consultation on Restoring Fiscal Balance:
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Hong Kong: Tax Reform:
http://www.fin.gc.ca/activty/consult/fiscbal_e.html
http://www.taxreform.gov.hk/
What Others Can Do
Non-Governmental Public Engagement
Activities
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Public Policy Research Organizations--”Think Tanks”
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International Budget Project:
http://www.internationalbudget.org/index.htm
National Budget Group -Azerbaijan:
http://www.nbg.az/
What Others Can Do
Non-Governmental Public Engagement
Activities
(continued)
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Public Education and Outreach
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U.S. Concord Coalition, public forums, Fiscal Wake-Up Tour:
http://concordcoalition.org/events/fiscal-wake-up/index.html
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U.S. interactive, educational website , California Next Ten:
http://nextten.org/index.php
Informal Public Engagement:
Unorganized Initiatives
"A few years ago the debate was about whether the media
controlled politicians or whether politicians controlled the media...
Now it is about how we are all responding to the explosive power
of citizens, consumers and bloggers.”
Chancellor Gordon Brown, Davos, January 25, 2007
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Google search for “United States Budget”--57,100,000
hits
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3rd resource = Wikipedia, United States Budget Process:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_budget_process
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Blog search “United States Budget”--149,000 postings
The Budget Graph:
http://thebudgetgraph.com/view
Public Engagement: Conclusion
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Goals
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Build civic capacity
Budget Officials’ Role
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Good Government/ Better Budget Outcomes
Essential contribution: Information that informs and allows
others to inform
Quality of information matters
A Cautionary Note
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Focus on the objectives
Manage the public’s expectations
Susan Tanaka
susan_tanaka@verizon.net
Senior Budget Officials for Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe
Vilnius, Lithuania
March 20, 2007