Originally published 10 September 2014. This article is retained from the tCI archive. Law, policy or practice may have changed since publication.
Referendums – rightly - have their critics, but as the top-end of the consultation spectrum we can surely look to the events of last week and try to see what lessons can be learnt from the Scottish referendum. There is no shortage of political analysis – but this is an attempt to focus on the process. As a mechanism of consultation, how good was this?
Firstly, note how this exercise exhibited so many of the known problems of organising a consultation. There was the classic dilemma over the scope of the Referendum. Was it meant to be about a further bout of devolution? Or was it a once-and-for-all opportunity to see if the Scottish people wanted independence? Hence the early debate as to what options to include. Was Devo-Max within the scope of this exercise? Or not? Then there was debate as to whose views were to be sought? Who were the stakeholders if you like? These decisions always have a major impact on the consultation, and in this case, 16 and 17 year olds were included; the half million Scots living in England were not!
Everyone now seems to agree that the levels of participation and engagement exceeded all expectations and there has been almost universal praise for many aspects of the Referendum. Grassroots mobilisation has been much in evidence, and the voting turnout – at 85% is a major achievement. But what other lessons can we learn?
An extended period of time is important.
Having a long consultation is unusual, but has its benefits. If you want to engage lots of people in something complicated there are processes of filtering and dis-aggregation that enable complex issues to be reduced to their essentials. When done badly, it looks and feels like ‘dumbing down’; when done well it energises the debate by feeding new ideas and new labels for different strands of thought. These take time and what distinguishes the Scottish referendum is the way in which the dialogue was able to mature and take advantage of all the grassroots activity and the media coverage. Most consultations are quick 12-week or shorter bouts of listening, with limited opportunities to develop. If you only have time for groups of interested individuals or organisations to meet just once – don’t be surprised if their participation in the debate is somewhat superficial.
People will engage if they believe the consultation will exert genuine influence
This referendum was billed as a definitive Yes or No, and unlike others it appeared as if it only needed a 50% +1 result to bring about a fundamental change affecting every citizen. What discourages so many is the thought that the subject might not matter very much and that whatever people said, it would make little or no difference. Some observers have enthused about the Referendum ushering in a new age of much higher public participation in Scotland. They may be disappointed. Experience suggests that people only really become involved if they are convinced that their actions will have a real influence. Future consultations may be less obviously influential, so caution may be necessary here.
Higher engagement levels will ‘move the debate along’
The Institute’s widely accepted definition of consultation starts with the words “a dynamic process of dialogue between…’. The truth, sadly is that many consultations struggle to be even a tiny bit dynamic. A consultor
publishes its narrative, and a small number of consultees respond - with neither listening to the other. The debate there is sterile and static, whereas in a good consultation, there is a genuine debate with different viewpoints
expressed and argued over, often shifting the grounds of debate in significant ways. The Scottish Referendum provided one of the best illustrations of this – with the kernel of the argument moving so much that the ‘No’ campaign felt impelled to make specific promises in the last days of the campaign … The wider the engagement, the more likely we are to hear a debate that develops dynamically
Challenges stem from expectations.
We never tire of telling consultors to be careful about the expectations they arouse when conducting a consultation. Quite apart from the ‘substantive’ undertakings sought and given, there may be the precedents set by the scope, style and content of the consultation itself. Conducting a high-wide-and-handsome exercise one year when circumstances are favourable may cause us difficulty in future years if we adopt a lean-and-mean approach to public engagement. Without doubt, the Scots face a major challenge in coping with an aftermath where the promises made by one of the consultors become argued over by those who responded.
In so many ways, last week’s Scottish experience is a classic use of consultation. A clear question was asked and enough people thought it was worth answering because they thought their participation would have some influence. In other ways, however, it raises some questions. Were the options properly thought-through, as there is evidence that many respondents would have liked the ability to say they supported Devo-Max? Was there sufficient trusted information about the alternative visions of Scotland’s future? And were there enough opportunities for the public to fill the gaps in their own knowledge of these matters?
Ultimately, this was a decision about change. Ironically, the status quo option won, but this will, of itself bring about the most profound change in the UK’s constitution. It will not be the first or last time when a consultation leads to an eventual outcome that was nowhere envisaged in the questions asked. What has happened is that instead of just being part of a single decision-making process, it has become an episode in part of a longer, more strategic journey. On that journey, many things change including the route, the passengers and maybe the destination. They change because of the Power of the people to take an issue, look at it from so many different perspectives and sometimes produce an unforeseeable conclusion.
When Scottish people voted last week, few of them thought they were likely to change a massive part of the British constitution affecting England and Wales. But that may well be the result. Consultations frequently have unpredictable consequences – you mess with the Power of the people at your own risk!
TRIGGER POINTS
- This year’s Conference is on 22nd October in London and is on the theme of The Power of the People. Ideas covered in this Topic will feature in Rhion Jones’ presentation.
- How do consultations In your organisation compare in terms of process …?
- Have you any examples of a higher level of engagement significantly impacting the nature and scope of the debate?
This is the 265th Tuesday Topic; a full list of subjects covered is available for Institute members and is a valuable resource covering so many aspects of consultation and engagement