PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Approval of GIFT Principles and Next Steps
Murray Petrie
Lead Technical Advisor, GIFT
GIFT Stewards Meetings,
Washington DC, December 1-2, 2015
#FiscalTransparency
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
GIFT’s work program on
public participation in fiscal policy
 Originated with GIFT High Level Principle 10: moving beyond
disclosure.
 Eight country case studies.
 Development of ‘Principles of Public Participation in Fiscal Policy’
2012-2015.
 A series of workshops 2012-2015.
 Public consultation in 2015.
 Proposed GIFT Participation Principles.
 Preparation of an associated Guide to help implement the
Principles.
 Development of indicators to measure participation in fiscal
policy.
 Proposed next steps.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
WHY a new set of principles on public participation?
 Going beyond disclosure to direct public participation:
 Disclosure alone insufficient for accountability.
 Participation a right of citizens.
 Support existing governance systems.
 To improve quality of policy design and
implementation.
 GIFT HL Principle 10: 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.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
SCOPE of PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
in fiscal policy
• Invited v autonomous participation
• Covers all fiscal policy and budget making activities:
 The annual budget cycle (8 documents)
 Fiscal policy reviews and new policy initiatives
outside the annual budget cycle (revenues,
expenditures, financing, assets and liabilities)
 The design and delivery of public services
 The planning, appraisal & implementation
of public investment projects
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Development of proposed GIFT Principles
• Initial draft norm discussed in Brasilia and
Washington 2012.
• Series of regional (OGP FOWG), country, and
researcher workshops
2014-2015 (Bali, San José CR, Cape Town,
Washington, Manila, Mexico City).
• Review of wide range of international and national
official and civil society, academic, practitioner
documents.
• Web-based public consultation
August-October
2015.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Preamble to the Principles:
‘Public authorities should endeavour to ensure that citizens
and non-state actors have effective opportunities to participate
directly in public debate and discussion over the design and implementation of
fiscal policies, observing the following principles:
[draws straight from the wording in High Level Principle 10]
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Proposed GIFT Participation Principles
PRINCIPLE 1: Openness
Provide full information on and be
responsive with respect to the
purpose, scope, constraints,
intended outcomes, process and
timelines, as well as the actual
results of participation and next
steps.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
PRINCIPLE 2: Inclusiveness
Pro-actively use multiple mechanisms to reach out to and provide a
safe space for all, including traditionally excluded and vulnerable
groups and individuals, and voices that are seldom heard, without
discrimination on any basis, including nationality, race, ethnicity,
religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age or caste; [and
consider public inputs on an objective basis irrespective of their
source].
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
PRINCIPLE 3: Respect for self-expression
Allow and support individuals and
communities, including those directly
affected, to articulate their interests in their
own ways, and to choose means of
engagement that they prefer, while
recognizing there may be groups that have
standing to speak on behalf of others.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
PRINCIPLE 4: Timeliness
Allow sufficient time in the budget and policy
cycles for the public to provide inputs at each
phase; engage early while a range of options is
still open; and, where desirable, allow for more
than one round of engagement.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
PRINCIPLE 5: Accessibility
Facilitate public participation in general by
disseminating complete fiscal information
and all other relevant data, in formats and
using mechanisms that are easy for all to
access and understand, and to use, re-use
and transform.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
PRINCIPLE 6: Transparency
Provide all relevant information to support
each engagement, highlighting and informing
key policy choices and trade-offs, identifying
potential social, economic, and
environmental impacts, and incorporating a
diversity of perspectives; [provide timely and
specific feedback on public inputs and how
they have been incorporated or not in
official policy or advice.]
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
PRINCIPLE 7: Proportionality
Use a mix of mechanisms proportionate to
the scale and impact of the issue.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
PRINCIPLE 8: Sustainability
Conduct on-going and regular engagement
to increase knowledge sharing and mutual
trust over time; institutionalise public
participation where appropriate and effective;
and regularly review and evaluate
experience to improve future engagement.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
PRINCIPLE 9: Complementarity
Ensure that mechanisms for participation
complement and support existing
governance and accountability systems.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
PRINCIPLE 10: Mutuality
All state and non-state entities taking part in public engagement activities should
be open about their mission, the interests they seek to advance, and who they
represent; and should observe any agreed rules for engagement, [cooperate to
achieve the objectives of the engagement,] and act with integrity.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Feedback from public consultation
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• 27 responses, range of perspectives.
• Strong support for all principles.
• A number of useful suggestions, some
appropriate for detailed good practices.
• Suggested simplification, re-ordering.
• Importance of identifying all
potentially interested/affected and all
potential impacts.
• Referred to additional groups that
should not be excluded.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
The Principles in practice: some country examples
1. Openness
2. Inclusiveness
3. Respect for selfexpression
4. Timeliness
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5. Accessibility
Brazil and Kenya: inclusion of public participation
in Constitutions and laws provides clarity about
expectations and processes.
Kenya: multiple mechanisms publicise budget
participation opportunities, with range of geographic
locations and mechanisms for public to provide input.
Philippines: Community-Driven Development Program
engages marginalised communities.
South Africa: Citizen-based monitoring; Philippines:
Bottom-up Budgeting.
Canada: engagement by executive during budget
preparation and new policies, by legislature during
budget consideration, by executive during program
evaluation, and by SAI during auditing.
Mexico: creation of the Transparency Portal for fiscal
data.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
The Principles in practice: some country examples
6. Transparency
7. Proportionality
8. Sustainability
9. Complementarity
10. Transparency of
non-state actors
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Croatia Fiscal Policy Committee; Canada
public consultations.
UK Cabinet Office requirement; principle in EU
law on consultation.
Brazil: public policy Councils, National
Conferences and Inter-council Forums all
routine part of institutional framework.
Many legislatures provide for public testimony
during budget oversight.
The Philippines DBM-CSO Principles of
Engagement.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Big themes from Mexico OGP Summit
 Real and meaningful public participation is
critical to success and sustainability of OGP;
need to avoid ‘open-washing’ – but how, exactly,
should states engage their citizens?
 Participation is a citizen right.
 Participation is key to SDG Goal 16 and building
inclusive institutions, and critical to achieving
all the SDGs.
 Strong interest in practical guidance on public
participation, including from FOWG.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Issues for discussion:
Approval of Proposed Principles
 Any suggested revisions to proposed principles?
 Views on proposed subsequent work program:
 Develop good practices in public participation in fiscal policy.
 Engage with IBP on review of participation questions in OBS.
 Additional PEFA assessments.
 Prepare a Guide to Public Participation in Fiscal Policy.
 Initiate work on comprehensive measurement framework.
 Establish Participation Advisory Group.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Supporting implementation of the participation
principles with practical guidance
 Initially, a simple expanded version of ‘principles in practice’
(slides 17, 18)
 Then progressive development of a set of proposed good
practices, disaggregated by the executive, the legislature, the SAI,
and civil society.
 Likely to be desirable to recognize diversity of country
circumstances by identifying basic/good/advanced practices.
 Then prepare a Guide to Public Participation in Fiscal Policy.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Initial work on measuring
public participation in fiscal policy
 PEFA is being revised: GIFT suggested additional participation
elements be built into a number of PEFA indicators.
 The result was agreement to trial a supplementary indicator
on participation, subject to agreement of the country
authorities and the PEFA assessment team.
 Currently being trialled in Philippines as part of PEFA.
 Also being piloted in South Africa by Global Integrity.
 Once pilots reviewed, further assessments will be initiated in
OGP countries undergoing PEFA reviews (Tunisia, South
Africa, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia,
Paraguay).
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Pilot supplementary PEFA indicator
One indicator covering four dimensions of fiscal policy:
1. Public participation across the annual budget cycle:
Budget preparation and Legislative approval.
2. Public participation in the design and delivery of public
services (two of largest sectors).
3. Public participation in the appraisal and implementation of
public investment projects (sample of largest projects).
4. Public participation in oversight processes
(legislative review, and Supreme Audit).
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Further planned work on measuring
public participation in fiscal policy
 GIFT will work with the IBP on a review of how public
participation is measured in the OBS, for revisions to the next
OBS
 GIFT will also work on a comprehensive framework to
measure public participation against the GIFT Participation
Principles and Practices.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FISCAL POLICY:
Draft GIFT Principles
Next steps
1. Publish the GIFT Principles of Public Participation in Fiscal Policy
in December 2015.
2. From January 2016 engage with IBP on review of participation
questions in OBS.
3. Assess PEFA pilot, initiate up to 8 additional assessments.
4. Establish a consultative group to review further work on public
participation (development of good practices, drafting of Guide,
development of a comprehensive measurement framework).
5. Aim to complete a ‘zero’ draft of good practices for Stewards
meeting mid-2016, a first complete draft by December 2016.
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