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Trust & Government
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Indeed, during the conference, which took place on 13 October in the Hague, participants underlined the vital necessity of ensuring effective citizen participation in decision making-process and the importance of improving methods of communication so as to ensure true trust in government.
Citizen participation
'It is clearly vital that citizens be given the opportunity to participate and to understand what is being done on their behalf at all levels of government. We must now go about defining new perspectives in terms of the relationship between citizens and their governing bodies so that they may build a mutual trust," Frédéric Vallier, CEMR Secretary General.
'Local governments cannot lean back and be complacent. They must look in the mirror and find new ways of working with citizens. Indeed, citizens must feel that they are heard and that something is being done based on their advice, so as to avoid a disconnect between the social and political realities. The current structure of authority consists of too many layers tackling the same problems and issues at the same time. Public authorities need restructuring and citizens must be implicated in this restructuring if trust is to be re-established and reinforced," Ralph Pans, President of the Board, VNG.
'If we are to have consistency in the building of trust, we need consistency in regulation. If communication goes back and forth between government and citizen then there is no reason trust cannot be built. Trust is all about the symmetry of relations, about a constant 'give and take'," Robert Manchin, CEO and President of GALLUP Europe.
Governments building trust
'A reliable government is not one that tries to accomplish more than it can take on, it is one that is open, balanced, honest and trusted by its people," Roos Van Erp-Bruinsma, Secretary General, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, The Netherlands.
'The Council of Europe considers trust to be the fundamental mortar of the democratic fabric of our society as it links us together. We are however in the middle of an earthquake and this mortar is being significantly weakened. Prerequisites of public trust include the ethical behaviour of public officials, whereby public interests are placed above private ones, and the capacity of these officials to remain competent and to get the job done properly," Daniel Popescu, Director, Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform, Council of Europe.
Governance and citizenship
Trust & Government - 13.10.2010
Trust in government: A need for greater involvement of citizens and better communication
Citizens are becoming increasingly disillusioned by their governing bodies, a direct consequence of a growing lack of trust, which speakers at the Trust in Government Conference proposed to address in different ways.
Indeed, during the conference, which took place on 13 October in the Hague, participants underlined the vital necessity of ensuring effective citizen participation in decision making-process and the importance of improving methods of communication so as to ensure true trust in government.
"Trust in Government" was organised by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) in collaboration with its Dutch member, VNG, and constitutes their contribution to the European Local Democracy Week (ELDW), taking place from 11 to 17 October 2010.
Citizen participation
'It is clearly vital that citizens be given the opportunity to participate and to understand what is being done on their behalf at all levels of government. We must now go about defining new perspectives in terms of the relationship between citizens and their governing bodies so that they may build a mutual trust," Frédéric Vallier, CEMR Secretary General.
'Local governments cannot lean back and be complacent. They must look in the mirror and find new ways of working with citizens. Indeed, citizens must feel that they are heard and that something is being done based on their advice, so as to avoid a disconnect between the social and political realities. The current structure of authority consists of too many layers tackling the same problems and issues at the same time. Public authorities need restructuring and citizens must be implicated in this restructuring if trust is to be re-established and reinforced," Ralph Pans, President of the Board, VNG.
Communication
'If we are to have consistency in the building of trust, we need consistency in regulation. If communication goes back and forth between government and citizen then there is no reason trust cannot be built. Trust is all about the symmetry of relations, about a constant 'give and take'," Robert Manchin, CEO and President of GALLUP Europe.
Governments building trust
'A reliable government is not one that tries to accomplish more than it can take on, it is one that is open, balanced, honest and trusted by its people," Roos Van Erp-Bruinsma, Secretary General, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, The Netherlands.
'The Council of Europe considers trust to be the fundamental mortar of the democratic fabric of our society as it links us together. We are however in the middle of an earthquake and this mortar is being significantly weakened. Prerequisites of public trust include the ethical behaviour of public officials, whereby public interests are placed above private ones, and the capacity of these officials to remain competent and to get the job done properly," Daniel Popescu, Director, Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform, Council of Europe.
