“Citizens and non-state actors should have the right and effective
opportunities to participate directly in public debate and discussion
over the design and implementation of fiscal policies.”
GIFT High Level Principle 10,
Endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly, December 2012
Sanjeev Khagram
Founder and Senior Advisor,
GIFT
skhagram@fiscaltransparency.net
GIFT-OGP Fiscal Openness
Working Group Meeting
San Jose,
18 November, 2014
Fiscal Openness
2
 Fiscal openness includes transparency, participation and
accountability in government decision-making over the
mobilization, allocation and use of public resources.
 GIFT promotes fiscal openness by:
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Developing a more coherent/comprehensive global architecture of norms
Strengthening incentives for better policies and practices
Supporting research and technical assistance
Facilitating peer-to-peer sharing and learning
 GIFT Stocktake identified gap in standards for fiscal policy:

Focus was on/confined to disclosure of fiscal information, very little on
direct public participation
What is public participation?
3
 The variety of ways in which the general public, including
citizens, civil society organisations and other non-state
actors interact directly with public authorities by means
of face to face communication, deliberation or decisionmaking, or by written forms of communication including
electronic or paper media.
 Different depths of participation: IAPP five levels of
participation of increasing depth: inform, consult,
involve, collaborate, empower.
 Public discussion, deliberation and open advocacy in
contrast to private lobbying or corrupt/illicit activity.
Goals of Public Participation
4
Governments, citizens, civil society organizations
and non-state actors use public participation to:
 Broaden public dialogue and the range of policy options
 Better target public policies to meet citizens’ needs
 Improve the use of scarce public resources
 Empower citizens
 Reduce corruption
 Improve service delivery
 Reform bureaucracy
 Increase government legitimacy
General International Norms on
Public Participation
5
 Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights of the United Nations
enshrines the right of citizens to participate in
public affairs.
 International Labor Organization (ILO) 169
provides indigenous communities with the “right
of prior informed consent” regarding development
in their territories.
General International Norms
6
 The United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development issued the “Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development.” in 1992. Principle
10 of the declaration states that, “Environmental
issues are best handled with participation of all
concerned citizens, at the relevant level.”
 The World Commission on Dams enshrined public
participation in its international guidelines on
decision-making processes for large dam and
infrastructure projects in its widely acclaimed final
report of 2000.
General International Norms
7
 The Aarhus Convention was adopted by the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Its
core principles include the” “the right to
participate in environmental decision-making, and
“the right to review procedures to challenge public
decisions.”
 The OGP encourages increased access to
information, participation and accountability in
government more generally. To date, 65
participating countries have made openness
commitments, and most have made specific fiscal
openness including public participation
commitments in their OGP action plans.
Specific International Norms
8
 Revised IMF Fiscal Transparency Code - Principle
2.3.3:

The government provides citizens with an accessible summary of the
implications of budget policies and an opportunity to participate in budget
deliberations.
 Revised OECD Principles of Budgetary
Governance:

…citizens should be able to engage with and influence the discussion about
budgetary policy options…
 Updated Open Budget Survey 2012 (Section 5)
measures participation across the budget cycle,
and by legislature and SAI.
Open Budget Survey 2012 Results
on Public Participation (100 Countries)
9
 Average public engagement score was only 19 out of 100
(for OGP member countries it was 29). Korea scored 91.
 In 51 countries, the executive is required to engage
(directly) with the public during the budget process.
 In 32 countries, public testimony is heard by a legislative
committee on the individual budgets of central
government administrative units (i.e., ministries).
 In 42 countries, supreme audit institutions have
mechanisms for engaging the public in formulating audit
programs (by identifying programs that should be audited)
or in conducting audit investigations (as respondents,
witnesses, etc).
Public Participation Good Practices:
Windows of Opportunity
10
 Institutions

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Executive
Legislature
Supreme Audit Institutions
Subnational governments
 Policy Cycle
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Macro-Fiscal Policy
Sector-level Fiscal Policy
Micro-level Fiscal Policy
 GIFT is documenting good practices and innovations
that occur at these institutional and policy cycle
opportunities (examples are at end of this powerpoint
presentation)
GIFT HIGH LEVEL PRINCIPLE 10.
11
‘Citizens should have the right and they, and all
non-state actors, should have effective
opportunities to participate directly in public
debate and discussion over the design and
implementation of fiscal policies.’
Short Normative Instrument
on Participation Principles and Good Practices
12
 Intended to:

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
Complement other standards and norms.
Guide governments (and all stakeholders).
Indicate to the public what they can expect.
Help assurance practitioners assess practices.
Be accompanied by a ‘primer’ on the case for participation,
as well as more detailed explanatory materials
 Draws on UN Conventions, OBS 2012, Aarhus
Convention, ISEAL Alliance, HAP Standard, Philippines
Principles of DBM-CSO Engagement, World Commission
on Dams, the Open Government Guide, World Bank
Social Accountability E-Guide, etc. etc.
12
Structure of Short Norm
13
1.
Introduction
2. Scope
3. Principles of public participation
4. Good practices
13
Introduction
14
 Participation can strengthen equity, efficiency, legitimacy
of fiscal policy and budget making, thereby improving
fiscal performance, and enhancing economic, social and
environmental outcomes.
 ICT developments have dramatically lowered cost of
direct participation and created new spaces for citizen
input.
 Instrument intended to apply to all public authorities at
all levels of government as well as generally to
legislatures and Supreme Audit Institutions.
 Intended to be applicable to all country contexts (though
implemented differently depending on context).
Scope of public participation in fiscal policy
and budget making
15
Covers all fiscal policy and budget making activities:
The annual budget cycle
II. Fiscal policy reviews outside the annual budget cycle
III. The design, production and delivery of public goods
and services.
IV. The design and delivery of public investment
projects.
I.
Principles of Public Participation
16
•
Ensuring openness about the purpose, process, and timelines of
public participation.
•
Ensuring well-informed participation
•
Ensuring meaningful participation: engaging early, allowing for
more than one round of engagement, providing feedback on inputs
received and how used, and considering public inputs on an objective
basis irrespective of source.
•
Allowing sufficient time in the policy cycle for the public to
provide inputs in each phase
•
Ensuring inclusiveness and non-discrimination: pro-active use
of multiple mechanisms
•
Encouraging the public to speak for itself:
•
Avoiding parallel systems that could undermine existing
accountability structures.
16
Good participation practices (1)
17
 Full disclosure of fiscal data (international




standards).
All fiscal reports/data easily accessible to general
public (non-technical summaries, citizen’s guides,
open data).
Public authorities promote general public awareness
of fiscal and budget policy challenges and issues.
An authorizing environment, and guidelines, for
officials to engage the public in appropriate ways.
Public authorities should promote public awareness
of key opportunities for public participation
Good participation practices (2)
18
 Central fiscal authorities should implement a comprehensive strategy for

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
citizen engagement in the formulation and implementation of fiscal and
budget policy.
The Legislature and the Supreme Audit Institution should each designate a
unit or officer responsible for management of public engagement in fiscal
policy and budget making.
When seeking public input, public authorities should indicate the potential
scope for and limits on changes in fiscal policy or administration that are
under consideration.
Public authorities should publicly explain the basis on which they have
invited individuals and groups to participate in a specific, and decisions to
exclude anyone, with such decisions subject to independent review.
Those directly affected by fiscal policy implementation e.g. the public in the
locality of a public infrastructure project should have access to low-cost
administrative review and the ability to seek judicial review of process.
Good participation practices (3)
19
 A published summary of public inputs received, indicating in
general how issues raised were addressed, and why.
 The process of each participation exercise should be
documented and adequate records maintained.
 Each public authority should set out its overall approach to
public participation, ensure staff have the skills required, and
document processes to learn effectively from public
participation exercises.
 Governments should publish a strategy to reduce barriers and
costs faced by non-state actors in engaging with the
government and other official actors on fiscal policy, including
a policy to support building of civil society capacity for public
participation in fiscal policy and budget making.
Some issues for discussion
20
 What are country experiences, lessons, goals and
needs in terms of public participation?
 What are views on the “short normative instrument”
and specific participation principles and practices
 For example on scope:



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Directed only at public authorities; should it also set out how
civil society should engage constructively?
Level of decentralization/de-concentration taken as given?
Role of media as enabler of public participation?
‘Citizens’?
Appendices: More Elaboration of Good Practices
 Institutions
 Executive
 Legislature
 Supreme Audit Institutions
 Subnational governments
 Policy Cycle
 Macro-Fiscal Policy
 Sector-level Fiscal Policy
 Micro-level Fiscal Policy
Public Participation: Executive
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Budget Cyle
Examples of Currently Used Approaches/Tools
Formulation
Pre-budget discussions;
Town Hall meetings
Focus Groups
Surveys
Provides access to budget and fiscal data
Enactment
Citizens’ Budget
Public hearings
Accessible information
Execution
National government monitors:
bureaucracy
subnational governments
Ombudsman
Auditing
Year-End Reports
Citizen Audits
Report cards
Social media inputs
Public Participation: Legislature
23
Budget Cyle
Examples of Currently Used Approaches/Tools
Formulation
Pre-budget discussions
Public hearings held by line ministries and in budget-specific
committees
Pre-Budget approval by Legislature
Enactment
Public Hearings
Standing committees
Execution
Supplementary Budgets: Public Hearings
Oversight of
Contracting
Bidding
Outsourcing
Quality of policy implementation
Auditing
Ongoing oversight
Review of Year end reports
Public Participation:
Supreme Audit Institutions
24
Budget Cyle
Examples of Currently Used Approaches/Tools
Formulation
Legal Hearings
 Constitutional Court assesses legality
 Public hearings on previous budget cycles
Enactment
Audit agenda
 Establish calendar for audits
 Establish priority areas for auditing during execution stage
Execution
Auditing
 Citizen-based
 Expert-based
 Fraud hotlines
Public release of year-end reports.
Public hearings
Monitor legality
Auditing
Macro-Fiscal Policy
25
National Executive
Legislature
SAIs
Public consultation on
medium term fiscal strategy
and aggregate annual budget
policy
- Publication of a ‘Citizens’
Budget’ with interactive
portal, and a Citizens’
Financial Statement
- Budget literacy campaigns
- Public consultation on
natural resource exploitation
strategy as relevant
- Public consultation on longterm fiscal strategy.
- Institutionalized
mechanisms for independent
advice and debate on macrofiscal policy
Well-defined committee
procedures for
consideration of the
annual budget, and for
reviewing in-year and
end-of- year reporting.
Compliance audit of
government’s
consolidated financial
statements.
Public attendance and
testimony at Committee
hearings.
Independent sources of
technical support and
advice on all aspects of
macro-fiscal policy.
Social audit/multistakeholder
reconciliation of total
natural resource
revenues reported paid
by companies with
receipts reported by
government
Sector-Level Policy
26
National Executive
Legislature
SAIs
Public consultation on
medium-term tax strategy
and on significant tax and
other revenue policy
changes
- Participatory public
expenditure reviews
- Sector and sub-sector
policy consultation, both on
current programs and on
investment projects
- Line ministry consultation
on multi-year strategic
business plans
- Provision for non-binding
citizens’ initiated referenda
on sector-level fiscal
policies
- Public attendance at
committee consideration of
bills, and of audit reports
- Public testimony at
committee hearings
- Independent sources of
technical support and
advice on sector-level
policy
Consultation with
the public during
completion of audits
of sector ministries,
revenue
administration,
public debt
management, asset
management, fiscal
risk management
Micro-Level Policy
27
National Executive
Legislature
SAIs
- Public consultation on new revenue
policies, changes to revenue policies
- Consultation with the affected
public on public investment
projects
Participatory Budgeting
- Published service delivery standards.
- Publication of resources received by
front-line service delivery units
- Mechanisms for client feedback and
complaints on public services
- Community score cards of public
service delivery
- Client surveys on service delivery
quality
- Participatory monitoring and
evaluations.
- Co-delivery of public services
- Standing consultative bodies (e.g.,
district boards)
- Public attendance and
testimony at committee
consideration of bills, and of
audit reports.
- Independent sources of
technical support and advice on
micro-fiscal fiscal policy.
- Published forward agendas of
Committee hearings, fiscal
policy Bills
- Proactive publication of
information on how to make a
parliamentary submission.
- Plain language explanation of
Bills
- Free access to media, and
support for media coverage.
- Consultation with public
during compliance and
performance audits of
departments and agencies.
- Consultation with the
public on audit program
priorities.
- Hot lines and other
mechanisms for public
input.
- Participatory, social
and collaborative
audits.
- Social audit/multistakeholder
reconciliation of natural
resource revenues
reported paid by
individual companies
with receipts reported
by government from
those