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Involvement of the community is one of the most recent trends in the field of public service. Admittedly, policymakers often address people to understand their needs and expectations but this can be hardly called community involvement. Ideally, community have to affect policies that may have any impact on the people. Consultations with community groups have been regarded as an effective option for effective policymaking and community involvement. At the same time, there are a few success stories as consultations with community groups are often seen by policymakers as time-consuming, expensive and tokenistic. Nevertheless, they can be effective and necessary tools when applied properly.
First, it is necessary to note that the consultation with community groups is considered by many researchers as a tool to develop and implement effective policies. Lynam (2006) stresses that the community consultation is an efficient means to understand the needs of people and take into account peculiarities of the community to come up with the most effective solutions. Ideally, the consultation can help policymakers to develop policies and involve people living in the community in this process.
Percy-Smith (2006, p. 153) argues that discussions and gatherings of people living in the community positively effects development of the community as well as the entire society since “people can come together in dialogue, reflection and social learning in communities as well as wider decision-making processes”. This is a conventional example of democracy as people themselves will develop regulations that will govern their life.
Apart from development of comprehensive policies, the consultation makes the policy acceptable and desirable for all stakeholders. In other words, these consultations “provide a degree of ‘democratic legitimacy’ to public policy processes” (Maddison & Denniss 2013, p. 194). Admittedly, some policies are not popular due to various reasons and people may be reluctant to follow the new rules. Such inability to accept a policy results in its ineffectiveness.
However, involvement of community groups will mean a broad discussion and reaching conclusions that will be accepted by all people. Even though some individuals or groups within the community can dislike certain measures, they will be bound to follow the regulations as other members of the community will persuade them and make it clear that the policy is important for the entire community.
Clearly, the consultation with community groups is very helpful in the policymaking process. However, in the real world, such consultations are held with numerous violations. One of the most widespread reasons for ineffectiveness of the consultation is that policymakers use them as a way to get people’s support rather than to develop efficient policies.
For instance, Shaw and Sun (2014) provide a conventional example of the way consultations take place in many places. Thus, Don McRae, Social Development Minister, claimed he would hold a number of consultations with individuals as well as families receiving financial assistance and he added that the format of the consultations was under development.
Later, McRae’s assistant said that “remains a commitment to hold some type of consultation with community groups” but she never provided any details or timelines (Shaw & Sun 2014). Clearly, the policymaker simply tried to show his commitment and wanted to persuade people he cared and was doing his best to find effective solutions to certain problems. Moore (2014) also argues that policymakers rarely address the public or start a wide discussion of possible policies.
It is obvious that policymakers do not want to spend too much time implementing a policy as they often think that they can always change the policy if it proves to be ineffective. Nonetheless, it is an inappropriate approach as every inefficient policy is a waste of people’s money and time. Ideally, policymakers have to understand that and resort to consultations. However, in the real world, the vast majority of policymakers use old approaches.
Hence, it is the responsibility of novice policymakers to change the system. Those who only start working in the field of the public service have to understand benefits of consultations with the community. People living in the community should also understand that this is the time of their empowerment and they have to take their stand. Novice policymakers should also encourage people to get involved. This is the only way to change the system and make all policymakers make use of consultations that are often crucial in the contemporary diverse society. When people start using consultations properly, they will acknowledge effectiveness of this approach and this will become a norm rather than an idealistic or tokenistic measure.
In conclusion, it is necessary to note that consultations with groups of the community are often seen as time-consuming and expensive. Policymakers often tend to announce their readiness to discuss issues with the community but avoid doing this. However, this trend should stop and consultations with groups within the community should become a norm in the policymaking process. These consultations (when held properly) help develop comprehensive and effective policies that will be beneficial for all stakeholders involved.
Reference List
Lynam, S 2006, Community development and public policy, Combat Poverty Agency, Dublin.
Maddison, S, & Denniss, R 2013, An introduction to Australian public policy: Theory and practice, Cambridge University Press, Sydney.
Moore, R 2014, ‘All hail the new King’s Cross – but can other developers repeat the trick?’, The Guardian, Web.
Percy-Smith, B 2006, ‘From consultation to social learning in community participation with young people’, Children, Youth and Environments, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 153-179.
Shaw, R, & Sun, V 2014, ‘NDP aim to attack government over spousal support clawback’, Vancouver Sun, Web.
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