Public consultation
Surveys and deliberative groups can be conducted with self-selected citizens or with statistically representative samples of the population which enables the identification of majority opinion.
There are a variety of consultation methods, but they all involve the provision of background information on the issue, and the opportunity for deliberation on the regulation, law or plan under consideration.
Email, surveys, and social media offer relatively accessible forms of consultation, lowering the barriers of time and travel required to participate.
Governing bodies, as well as regulatory agencies often have periods of public comment before a new regulation or project is enacted, to allow for ordinary citizens and stakeholders to provide input.
A 2023 report cautions, however, that AI-generated text, (such as from bots on social media) may result in illegitimate feedback in addition to legitimate testimony and opinions.
[10] A specific class of public comment is requested by agencies seeking input on draft policy documents such as environmental impact reports.
Other instances occur with regard to publication of draft environmental impact reports, which comments are then answered and may be reflected in subsequent revisions to the document.
A growing trend, especially in Europe and the Commonwealth countries, is for citizens to meet for an in-depth deliberation on an important policy issue and deliver their conclusions to the government.
One of the first forms of such deliberative assemblies were "citizens' juries" developed in the United States by Ned Crosby at the Jefferson Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Citizens' assemblies have been initiatives of the government in British Columbia and Ontario, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Poland, France, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
They have gathered public opinion data on over 300 policy proposals that have been put forward by Members of Congress and the Executive Branch, in a variety of areas.
Participatory budgeting was first developed in the 1980s by the Brazilian Workers' Party (PT), and since then it has manifested itself in a myriad of designs, with variations in methodology, form, and technology.
[20] In today's People's Republic of China, public comment on government policy is considered inappropriate, and may result in long prison terms for persons such as Wei Jingsheng.
The Hungarian Fidesz government has employed so-called National Consultations, sending questionnaires to citizens that survey their opinions on government policy and legislation while pushing the Fidesz governments' ideology and agenda with suggestive questions (e.g. by referring to a supposed "Soros plan" to "convince Brussels to resettle at least one million immigrants from Africa and the Middle East annually on the territory of the European Union, including Hungary", that this "is part of the Soros plan to launch political attacks on countries objecting to immigration and impose strict penalties on them", and asking citizens whether they agree, or blasting "Brussels bureaucrats" in a consultation about family policy).
[21][22][23][24][25] On other occasions, such as just prior to elections, the government sent letters notifying citizens that it will reduce their gas payments by €38, or sent pensioners gift vouchers.
[26] The Fidesz government has also carried out taxpayer-funded "information campaigns", or "national messaging initiatives", that have denounced supposed enemies of Hungary with budgets of tens of millions of euros per year.
