Tonusree Basu, Open Government Partnership’s Deputy Director of Thematic Policy Areas, shares how transparency and accountability are key to building trust in public leadership during times of crisis.
From Candlelight Protests to Public Trust
In the period 2016-17, citizens of the Republic of Korea increasingly took to the streets to protest against then-President Park Geun-hye’s involvement in a corruption scandal. These candlelight protests paved the way for a new government, led by President Moon Jae-in, to be elected into power — promising to foster spaces to hear citizens’ voices.
As a concrete step towards achieving this, President Moon launched a 100-day government programme called the ‘Gwanghwamoon 1st Street’ (Gwanghwamoon combines the name of the historic Gwanghwamun Square with President Moon’s own name). In just 49 days, 180,705 suggestions for the new government were submitted via the Gwanghwamoon 1st Street website or the public offices set up for this purpose. Of these, just over 1,700 of the proposals were integrated into government policies. 1st Street continues to serve as one of the key platforms for civic input into government decision-making.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government used the platform — alongside other digital efforts — to disseminate timely and accessible information about the pandemic to citizens. This public participation channel has also been used to launch important campaigns, such as one empowering citizens to protect their privacy and personal information against misuse. These efforts have gone a long way to bridge the gap between government and citizens, and rebuild public trust in government — something that also saw a significant drop in the last few months as COVID-19 continued to plague the world globally.
COVID-19: A Wake Up Call for All
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the existing inequalities and socio-economic challenges that countries and local governments face. Lack of access to medical care, corrupt practices compromising contracts for personal protection equipment (PPE) and vaccines, and now challenges related to the access to vaccines compounded the question of saving lives and livelihoods.
As markets dipped and jobs were lost around the world, enormous stimulus and safety net packages were mobilised rapidly. However, these were rolled out without the necessary oversight, which enabled large-scale corruption and inefficiency across both the global north and south: corruption scandals involving facemasks in Germany and contracts for PPE in the U.K., misuse of COVID-19 recovery funds in South Africa — according to its auditor general, misappropriation of COVID-19 relief funds meant for low-income communities in Sri Lanka, and more.
Almost two years into the pandemic, countries that prioritise openness, data-based decision-making, and bridging the gap with citizens have done better in tackling pandemic-related crises, including the immediate response to multiple waves of the virus, and are also progressing on longer-term recovery and institutional renewal.
Amid calls to “build back better” on international platforms, it is important to recognise that any post-pandemic political and economic renewals need to go beyond just resetting or rebuilding — and embrace thinking anew. Efforts need to be underscored by principles of open, accountable, responsive, and inclusive policy-making. As France’s President Macron said at the 2020 Open Government Partnership Virtual Leaders Summit, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly: “We must ensure that we don’t go back to the political systems we knew before. We must use this crisis as a wakeup call to reject the easy but false answers of populism and isolation. We have to build new models of democracy and put citizens first.” This clarion call has been prominent across for a focused on global development such as the Sustainable Development Goals, but it is important to see that it is put into practice too in the form of concrete national policies.
Open Renewal: A New Vision for Public Leaders
The pandemic — as much as the climate, economic crises that are unfolding — is a governance crisis. It sets out an opportunity to conceptualise a new vision for public leaders. Open Renewal outlines the vision for a cross-sector effort to promote a transparent and accountable recovery from the pandemic, tackle systemic inequalities of income, gender and race, address threats to democracy and civic space, and enhance public participation to reinvigorate democracy. The road ahead must be built on a strong foundation of values, digital transformation, and a commitment to delivery of public goods to all rather than only a few. While these are embedded in global frameworks, such as the 2021 G7 Communiqué, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and the forthcoming U.S.- hosted Summit for Democracy, we need concerted leadership to strive for concrete policy efforts at national and local levels.
At Open Government Partnership (OGP), a global partnership of 78 national and a number of local governments, we have found growing evidence — including examples of how countries handled the pandemic — that a transparent and accountable approach to tackling crises is better for rebuilding public trust and post-pandemic recovery and renewal. Drawing on 10 years of OGP’s work in this space, I would like to share four key lessons that remain relevant for all public leaders committed to renewing public trust, particularly in the face of crises:
1.Ensure Critical Data and Information is Proactively Disclosed
When Public Trust is the Key to Breakthrough
Public trust is not only a key aspect of democracy and governance, but an increasingly important pillar in the architecture of international economic policy. A digital-first and efficient government — one that is also open — can pave the way to increased public trust as we start rebuilding the global order. This is an opportunity for leadership in countries everywhere to ensure that there is a coalition of the willing that steps up to achieve this collective ambition.
