The short answer is that no-one has worried… until now.

There is little or no significant literature on the theory of consultation, let alone how it works in practice. References to Sherry Arnstein’s work in the US half a century ago focused on her labelling it “tokenistic”, and there is no shortage of critics who claim that the only effective forms of public participation are those where power is shared in some way.

Maybe such people are not policymakers. If they were, they might view consultations as more useful. It is, after all, one of the methods of public involvement that have been grafted onto our basic electoral process. Whitehall organises about 30 of them every month; a typical local authority has about 10 in that time. The NHS and countless other public bodies are also prolific consultors. We are all consultees! Not least because, as the Centre for Public Impact has recently emphasised, finding “legitimacy” is pivotal for effective government.

BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme reflects this growing consultation activity every morning. Also, almost every week, a government minister is happy to come to the studio to parade his or her listening credentials by announcing or launching a consultation on a current subject. In general, it is a soft interview. Plenty of opportunities to explain the issue and invite stakeholders to contribute their views. Terribly voter-friendly and, when done well, wholly commendable.

We wrote this article for the Centre for Public Impact and the rest of the article can be read here.