A service-minded and cooperative government is essential in citizens’ initiatives
Legal frameworks are often a pitfall when it comes to citizens’ initiatives. Esmee Driessen, a guest lecturer at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law and an expert in citizen participation, conducted research on the support and facilitation of citizens' initiatives. In a Dutch journal on social issues, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Vraagstukken, she speaks about this research, for which she recently obtained a PhD.
When setting up and implementing these initiatives, initiators almost always come into contact with government authorities. These authorities are often enthusiastic about the plans initiators present to them. However, actually getting the initiative off the ground can prove to be far from easy for both the local authorities and the initiators. One obstacle that is frequently heard is that ‘the law’ gets in the way of the initiators and government authorities.
According to Driessen, while the legal framework is indeed complicated, it is not the greatest obstacle. The government itself could be more ‘service-minded’. An ‘interface approach to the law’ and improving government authorities’ processes and methods would help most in supporting initiatives. For instance, templates, labels, codes or modalities could be developed to make the law more accessible.
Learn more?
Read the full article (in Dutch) in Sociale Vraagstukken
Photo: Scott Graham via Unsplash