Public domain – You talkin’ to me? / CIPFA, 23 Feb 2007
http://digbig.com/4rpch
Colin Talbot
"Whitehall’s attempts at consultation leave a lot to be desired. But effective policy-making can only be achieved when there is a genuine process of engagement with all the different parties involved. The recent fiascos over the government’s ‘fake’ consultations – the road-pricing petition and the nuclear power policy review – have highlighted just how far Whitehall is from being able to carry out even good consultations, never mind anything more participative.
Why does this matter? Well there is the obvious objection that fake consultation has the reverse effect to that intended, by generating cynicism instead of engagement."