Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

Good Practices and InnovATIONS in Public Governance
• Excellence: In order to judge the excellence of DGPC’s services, evaluations and
audits of its services have been ordered from independents bodies in cooperation
with other governments’ departments and international think tanks, etc.
The new Directorate has achieved the following results:
• Increased participatory processes: The Directorate has promoted cooperation
with numerous bodies within the regional government in the formulation
and implementation of participatory processes (reform of the Statute of Autonomy
of Catalonia, the Prison Reform Plan, the Research and Development
Plan 2005-2008, laws related to social services, children, young people and
immigration, etc.);
• Streamlined channels of participation: The Directorate has worked with
hundreds of councils, committees or commissions, which serve as vehicles for
the participation of citizens and representatives of civil society, to rationalize
and modernize their operations;
• Promoted and supported participatory processes at the local level: Since
2005, the Directorate has channeled €7 million to provide support for over 700
types of citizen participation processes at the local level; and
• Fostered studies and promoted methodologies for innovative citizen participation:
The Directorate has undertaken studies of local political participation
patterns and political disaffection; it has developed a methodology to promote
social dialogue regarding government initiatives that have an impact on the region;
and it has helped modify the Law of Popular Legislative Initiative.
The obstacles encountered in the implementation include the following:
• A specialized and fragmented government, in which any project that transcends
department or ministry boundaries, is very difficult to implement;
• A weak participatory culture both within the government and civil society; and
• Difficulty in clearly conveying to mass media in simple language the complex
participatory methodologies, tools, and procedures, as well as the concepts
behind citizen participation practices.
Lessons Learned
Participation cannot be improvised. Participation is fragile, delicate and sensitive. It
requires planning and professionalism, and high-quality implementation. This initiative
has transformed government as we know it, i.e., a government still dominated by
the idea of “every man for himself”. Yet, this initiative has shown that collaboration,
conviction, patience and mutual trust can bring about positive results.
278