Authors
Contributors
- Kapil Khimdas
Budget Talks: Then, now, next
May 2018
Executive Summary
Globally, the public sector is coming to grips with the realities of a networked society. People are demanding a greater say in policy decisions and are willing to work hard to have their voices heard. At the same time, policymakers are grappling with a host of interconnected social, economic, and environmental challenges that require new tools and input from a larger pool of stakeholders. This landscape is at once both daunting and exhilarating, leaving public servants asking: How can technology bring citizens closer to the policymaking process?
This brief report, prepared by Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship (BII+E), examines one specific public policy innovation intended to integrate citizen input into the budget-making process in Ontario: Budget Talks. Officially launched by the Ontario government in February 2015 to inform the pre-budget consultation process, Budget Talks is a program centered on an online platform that allows the public to submit, vote on, and discuss policy ideas. Originally designed to perform the first of those three functions – idea generation – it has since evolved to incorporate elements of deliberative democracy by including an explicit link between citizen participation and government decision-making.
The following report examines the evolution of Budget Talks, identifies impacts to date, examines internal visions for the future of the program, and speculates on three plausible scenarios for the next iteration of the initiative. This analysis is rounded out by a series of recommendations and guiding design principles that internal stakeholders can use to inform strategic decision-making going forward.
The insights arrived at in this report are informed by stakeholder interviews, a literature review, a co-creation workshop, and an analysis of internal documents.
Key takeaways are as follows:
- Public servants are longing to be part of something big: As one participant put it, Budget Talks has the potential to become “a reminder of why we became public servants in the first place,” providing a sense of pride stemming from bringing broad communities into the policymaking process. Such a shift may allow public servants to move from being gatekeepers and rule enforcers, to stewards and translators of the public interest.
- Budget Talks is an expression of the possibilities of civic participation: Overwhelmingly, citizens and public servants see benefit in opening the policymaking process to wider participation. Budget Talks may have a role to play in renewing public interest in policymaking and civic engagement.
- Budget Talks has all of the ingredients needed to become a breakthrough digital engagement strategy: Despite some internal disagreement about the direction of Budget Talks and the need for more resources to carry out the project, it has the required infrastructure (i.e., people, technology, public support, political buy-in, a culture of iteration) to become a best-in-class example of successful digital public engagement.