Public consultation

: which strategic path should be developed by regulatory authorities?

Abstract

A paradigm shift toward “open” decision-making has given to public consultation an increasingly important role in the regulatory and policy-making process. The purpose of the present dissertation is to analyze the current environment in which public consultation activities takes place, by understanding its two principal sides (regulators and citizens). To reach the aim, a benchmark to both International and National regulators was conducted focused on two key dimensions: Internal and External. Based on the former analysis, all the regulators were positioned in a matrix, which allowed the visualization of the different level of development in regulators’ practices concerning the two dimensions studied. However, successful stakeholder engagement implies a real perception of the rationale that underlies it. In this regard, it was conducted a survey to the principal addressee of consultation exercises: citizens. The aim of this tool was to understand what motivates citizens’ participation and what they do know, think and value in a public consultation procedure. By doing so, a clear gap was identified. Although citizens recognize the importance of public consultation activities, the truth is that there is little awareness about this topic, as well as a general feeling that more information should be provided about citizens’ right to participate in such activities. Given the results, a broad strategy based on three pillars was designed and a set of recommendations were given with the purpose of making a positive impact on the way in which public consultations are performed.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rute Xavier (Supervisor)