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The case against ‘purdah’ – As we approach the May elections, it may be time to question the conventional wisdom about the ‘period of purdah’. To what extent should it affect consultations?

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It’s a pretty inappropriate term, but it seems to have been generally adopted in political circles to mean the ‘curtain of discretion’ behind which we can conceal certain activities that would otherwise influence the public before they exercise their democratic right to vote. In classic British fudge, it mostly relies, not on law, but on […]

The case against ‘purdah’ – As we approach the May elections, it may be time to question the conventional wisdom about the ‘period of purdah’. To what extent should it affect consultations? Read More »

Community engagement – being on the ball! – Why we need to understand and support community initiatives from the sporting and commercial sectors

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For years we have all tended to accept that strong, confident communities are important for society. They provide a solid foundation for individuals, families and businesses to fulfil their potential; they foster greater cohesion and build resilience – critical at times of change and useful at times of challenge. Academics call it social capital So

Community engagement – being on the ball! – Why we need to understand and support community initiatives from the sporting and commercial sectors Read More »

Making the weather – Influencing the climate of opinion may be easier than improving the UK’s weather!

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A winter of storms has wrought havoc in many communities and even those of us not directly affected are starting to get accustomed to the high winds and endless rain. No wonder the weather is a constant topic of conversation, if only to discuss the cause of this unprecedented deluge.

Making the weather – Influencing the climate of opinion may be easier than improving the UK’s weather! Read More »

Lessons from screw-ups – A new book sheds light on Government blunders – and concludes we need “more deliberation”

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A new book sheds light on Government blunders – and concludes we need “more deliberation” Anthony King and Ivor Crewe are two of the most respected academics in the country, both having been Professors of Government at Essex University. They have just published a book called The Blunders of our Governments, and it should be

Lessons from screw-ups – A new book sheds light on Government blunders – and concludes we need “more deliberation” Read More »

Emergency services – Public respect for some of our public services is a great asset for public engagement and consultation

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It only needs a quick look at the public response to a tragedy such as that which occurred in Glasgow a few days ago to appreciate the amazing public esteem with which we view our emergency services. Tributes to brave individuals in or out of uniform almost always follow significant incidents. Major accidents always seem

Emergency services – Public respect for some of our public services is a great asset for public engagement and consultation Read More »

Consultation and Leadership – Leaders like Nelson Mandela knew instinctively when NOT to consult …!

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For those who have been glued to television screens to follow the various commemorations of the life of the former South African President, a frequent refrain will have been the leadership he displayed when negotiating the end of the apartheid regime. The story is told that at critical moments in the lengthy dialogue, Mandela deliberately

Consultation and Leadership – Leaders like Nelson Mandela knew instinctively when NOT to consult …! Read More »

The whole is greater … … – than the sum of the parts …

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It has long been asserted that a public consultation is fault-intolerant. By this we mean that one can be successful at almost everything required but fail on one relatively small aspect yet bring the entire consultation crashing down. Or so it seems. Many a consultor has felt this way when brought to the Courts. However

The whole is greater … … – than the sum of the parts … Read More »

Purists and Pragmatists – Consultation can expose significant tensions among stakeholders

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From time to time, democracies provide the spectacle of a tussle between ideologies – or at least, philosophies American politics, in 2013 for example, has been a historic battle between the Purists of the Republican tea-party movement and the more pragmatic elements on Capitol Hill. Thirty years ago the British Labour party found itself in

Purists and Pragmatists – Consultation can expose significant tensions among stakeholders Read More »

Consulting the powerful – Are the rules different?

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It is quite easy sometimes to imagine that all public or stakeholder consultations are dialogues between the usual bureaucracies and local communities. And it is equally easy to characterise these as an unequal contest between well-resourced organisations and enthusiastic amateurs; it is one of the reasons why some academics dismiss consultation as largely tokenistic, and

Consulting the powerful – Are the rules different? Read More »

Ten years on … – The Consultation Institute has much to do in the next ten years – but the agenda is changing!

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  When the Institute began in 2003, there was quite a lot of public and stakeholder consultation. Some of it was excellent; rather too much of it was classic tick-in-box and the occasional exercise hit the headlines, usually for the wrong reasons.  The Government was prone to grand consultative gestures and spent freely on some

Ten years on … – The Consultation Institute has much to do in the next ten years – but the agenda is changing! Read More »

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