experiences with citizen-focussed approaches, and takes a closer look at the notion skol lager beer crocband clog of ‘co-production’ as an exemplary exercise in citizen engagement in policymaking and the design and delivery of services.
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‘insofar as the democratic process, as it is institutionally organized and conducted, warrants the presumption that outcomes are reasonable products of a sufficiently inclusive deliberative process’. skol lager beer crocband clog The modern turn to a concern for a genuinely citizen-centric politics can be traced to political thinking in the wake of the Second World War—notably Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism and The Human Condition . Arendt pursued a strong version of political engagement which she considered to be a profound cultural achievement rather than something emerging naturally from human nature. She regarded citizenship as a distinctive and consciously adopted role, played out by citizens interacting and debating in a discrete public realm in which everything ‘can be seen and heard by everybody and has the widest possible publicity’.
The adoption of a citizen-centric worldview in policymaking and service design is a manifestation of the fundamental commitment to citizens’ participation in governance that characterises a democratic polity. At its broadest, the commitment is reflected in efforts by activists and political theorists to promote what has been variously labelled ‘deliberative’, ‘direct’ or ‘participatory’ democracy. At a more prosaic level, the commitment is reflected in the local and practical initiatives that various governments, in Australia and overseas, have pursued to ensure citizens’ involvement in decisions that affect them. Examples include such diverse matters as budget formulation, land management and health care. The paper considers current reform initiatives in the APS and examines the implications of citizen-centric ideals for the processes and structures of government agencies, for the attributes, skill sets and dispositions of public servants, and for the culture of the APS. It considers other jurisdictions’
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