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Inclusive Policy, including the all stakeholders and civil society along with Government
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Government College University Lahore
current international deliberations, this concern has only strengthened, gradually taking centre stage of debates at all levels.
Pending tasks:
Despite their strength at the discourse levels, inclusive social development and inclusive policy are evolving agendas that remain largely under-analysed and non-operationalized in policy and programmatic terms. These pending tasks became urgent with the adoption and the looming implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Grounds for discussion:
As a mutation of social exclusion and inclusion, inclusive social development is to be grounded in the frameworks of the original concepts. The work on its operationalization through the inclusive policy agenda is to follow the same trail.
Means and ends:
Inclusive policy is concerned with adequate inclusion of all parties in the process of policy design and delivery and, at the same time, with producing the outcome of inclusion. Put simply, it is inclusive in means and ends. Both concerns count equally.
Portfolio of interventions:
Inclusive policy is not a sectoral intervention. No standalone policy can achieve inclusion. It is brought about through a system or a portfolio of policy interventions that operate at once and in an integrated manner along the social, economic, political, civic and cultural axes.
Transformative:
This policy agenda is transformative in nature. It entails, as such, revision of the current modes of policy analysis, design and delivery at all levels.
Inclusive policy-making Processes:
Why are inclusive processes relevant?
The transformation of inputs into outputs and outcomes takes place through government processes and institutions. The public management and governance processes measured in Government at a Glance reflect the day-to-day working methods of central governments and are the mechanisms that shape public policies. Channeling and administering resources in different ways can affect the quality of outputs and outcomes; therefore, processes influence both the effectiveness of public administrations as well as the inclusiveness of their outcomes.
Inclusive processes are important to give all segments of society access to government decision making in order to better reflect their needs and aspirations, both in policy making and in service delivery. While their impact on an outcome as complex as inclusive growth is certainly not simple or predictable, inclusive processes increase awareness across the policy cycle and help to orient institutions in support of inclusive outcomes. They can be instrumental in preventing capture by powerful special interest groups as well as the dominance of informal and often illegal processes (e.g. corruption) over formal and open ones.
Bringing citizens actively on board in the design and implementation of policies could also increase their legitimacy and effectiveness, and create the feeling of ownership by citizens. Citizen and stakeholder engagement helps to access knowledge about needs, solutions and impacts that could otherwise be overlooked. All in all, inclusive processes could help to address, across the policy-making cycle, the differential impacts of various policies on outcomes for different segments of society and their likely effects on growth and well-being.
How to make inclusive processes work in practice?
Inclusive policy making relies on inclusive processes, evidence and structures to ensure that policies and their implementation reflect and integrate the perspectives of diverse stakeholders. This is supported by public transparency, openness and engagement mechanisms that inform citizens about government’s intentions and actions and that provide them with ways to express their opinions.
Inclusive policy making depends also on evidence that includes information on the distributional consequences of policy decisions, and the appropriate institutional structures for collecting, exchanging and incorporating that information into decision making. Finally, a strong system of
consultation, but through collaboration and joint deliberation, so that policies reflect and integrate the perspectives of those affected by them. Overall, enhanced public engagement could increase trust in public institutions and contribute to closing the gaps between citizens’ expectations and government responses, therefore resulting in better public policies.
Generating evidence on distributive effects for decision making:
Mechanisms to involve stakeholders both benefit from and contribute to evidence on the possible distributive effects of policy. This evidence helps inform the decision-making process, allowing policy makers to better understand impacts and to adjust policy. This includes generating relevant information and using methodologies such as cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to select investment projects, or regulatory impact assessment (RIA) to assess the effects of regulatory policies.
Rebalancing policy processes to give a voice to all groups: the example of gender-responsive budgeting:
Another argument for involving key stakeholders in the policy-making process stems from historical and cultural patterns of discrimination affecting specific groups such as women, ethnic minorities and immigrants. These groups have often been excluded from the policy-making process and as a result have experienced the results of systematically biased policy outcomes. In order to redress such patterns, it is important to incorporate balancing mechanisms at all stages of the policy design and implementation process. Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is such a mechanism as it incorporates a gender perspective at all stages of the budgetary process.
The Contribution of Performance Management:
Integrating inclusiveness objectives into government performance frameworks can help raise awareness of the impact of resource allocation and implementation decisions in different sectors and for different groups. To be effective, performance budgeting and management should be aligned with high-level, politically agreed key national indicators that focus on the outcomes that matter most to citizens.
Anchoring inclusive policy making through checks and balances :
A strong system of checks and balances is essential for the legitimacy, but also the inclusiveness, of policy making, from problem definition to accurate evaluation. Checks and balances underpin
inclusive governance by interpreting and enforcing regulation equally for all, protecting the vulnerable, providing independent, evidence-based inputs and curbing the risks of undue influence and corruption.
The role of independent institutions in fostering transparency:
Independent bodies have an important role in supporting transparency in a variety of areas. They can be either temporary or permanent. They may include bodies such as productivity commissions or independent fiscal institutions (IFIs). In essence, these institutions can provide an external expert view on the likely effects of policy options and inform the public debate.
Public transparency and accountability :
Making the decision-making process inclusive requires recognizing that it is vulnerable to capture by vested interests. Efforts to make processes inclusive will not work in practice if the access and influence of a powerful few are not averted. The growing inequality in societies and the increasing concentration of resources in the hands of a few creates a vicious circle by which those that hold the resources capture the design and implementation of policies in their favor, further concentrating resources and exacerbating inequality.
Inclusive policies and results
Inclusive processes create better circumstances for making informed public policy decisions, but they do not guarantee inclusive policy results. There is growing recognition that inclusiveness of policy outcomes is a multidimensional concept, affecting not only material living standards but also well-being. This is important, because some population groups tend to accumulate different types of inequalities, hampering government’s ability to provide equal opportunities to the entire citizenry. Income and non-income inequalities mutually reinforce each other, possibly perpetuating a vicious cycle of exclusion and inequality.
Designing tax-and-transfer systems for efficient redistribution:
Government can redistribute income through tax and social transfer policies. When adequately designed, public cash transfers, as well as income taxes and social security contributions, can
Strengthening the rule of law and ensuring effective policy enforcement :
Designing inclusive public policies taking into account their distributional effects is important, but may end up having little impact if the policies are not enforced effectively. For example, raising the top income and capital tax rates without improving compliance mechanisms and combating tax evasion may not reduce income inequalities
Conclusion:
Creating conditions for inclusive growth has many implications for governments. For example, this could involve building a government workforce that is more representative of society. It could also mean developing policies in new ways that are based more on evidence, constructive dialogue and the participation of citizens, and that promote increased transparency and accountability. Governments could also try to increase inclusiveness by ensuring that the distributional effects of each policy and decision on income and non-income inequalities are systematically and rigorously evaluated. Traditionally, governments look at the effects of a given policy on particular outcomes in isolation.
