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The ability to elicit people’s views through new technology has many advantages. It is a form of mass publishing that lets the audience decide whether or not they want to participate; they can do so at a time, and increasingly a place, of their own choosing – and it saves a small forest of trees! […]

Our mature democracy has taken against political practitioners. They compete with estate agents and tabloid journalists for the wooden spoon of professional popularity, and our media delights in pouring scorn on their activities. Thoughtful commentators have long worried that this is a serious challenge to our democracy, and initiatives such as the Power Commission have

Officials who need to prepare and write consultation papers will confirm that one of the biggest challenges is to address a variety of different audiences. Of course it depends upon the context and the subject-matter. Asking residents what they think of the new layout of the local park is obviously different from the Treasury seeking

What various stakeholders think of you matters increasingly in this image-conscious world. Indeed, you can now take degree courses in reputation management, and the term itself is becoming popular as a general description of what your PR department is all about. But what part does consultation play in building, securing and defending an organisation’s reputation?

The Government in Dublin will not be winning popularity polls among the leaders of the European Union right now. The result of its referendum on the Lisbon Treaty is, let’s face it, downright inconvenient, for without complete unanimity, reform of the EU cannot proceed. But, for us, it also prompts some wider reflections on the

There are 10,000 odd parish or town councils in England and Wales, and suddenly everyone wants to be nice to them. Deprived of powers, status and money, it is now thought that they might be important. Ministers and civil servants are scurrying to see what can be done to strengthen these bodies – with a

The new Mayor of London has made a remarkable pledge:- “I will consult the residents in the (Congestion Charge) zone and on the border on whether we should keep the Western extension, and whatever the result I will abide by it”. On the surface, here is a clear, unambiguous commitment, no doubt welcomed by all

In the ideal world, it would never be necessary for law-makers to pass legislation insisting that public bodies co-operate with each other! That this became necessary, in the 2007 Local Government & Public Involvement in Health Act, is testimony to a silo mentality throughout the public sector, genuine problems of bureaucratic boundaries or just meddlesome