Glossary of key terms

Term

Definition

Civic space

The set of legal, policy, institutional and practical conditions necessary for non-governmental actors to access information, express themselves, associate, organise and participate in public life.

Levels of government

Central and subnational levels of government.

Non-public stakeholders

Any interested and/or affected party – including individuals, institutions and organisations – which is not from the government or any of its related public entities. Examples are CSOs, journalists, citizens, bloggers, members of political parties, members of the private sector or business associations, trade unionists, academics, human rights defenders, activists.

Open government institutional architecture

Set of institutions, policies and co-ordination mechanisms to enable a integrated open government approach.

Open government initiatives

Actions undertaken by the government, or by a single public institution, to achieve specific objectives in the area of open government, ranging from the drafting of laws to the implementation of specific activities such as online consultations.

Open government literacy

The combination of awareness, knowledge and skills that public officials and stakeholders require to engage successfully in open government strategies and initiatives.

Open government strategy

A document that defines the open government agenda of the central government and/or any of its subnational levels, as well as that of a single public institution or thematic area, and that includes key open government initiatives together with short, medium and long-term goals and indicators.

Open government

A culture of governance that promotes the principles of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation in support of democracy and inclusive growth.

Open state

A process whereby the executive, legislature, judiciary, independent public institutions and all levels of government – recognising their respective roles, prerogatives and overall independence, according to their existing legal and institutional frameworks – collaborate, exploit synergies, and share good practices and lessons learned among themselves and with other stakeholders to promote transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation in support of democracy and inclusive growth.

Policy cycle

A process that includes identifying policy priorities, drafting the actual policy document, policy implementation, and monitoring implementation and evaluation of the policy’s impacts. Stakeholders: any interested and/or affected party including: individuals, regardless of their age, gender, sexual orientation, religious and political affiliations; and institutions and organisations, whether governmental or non-governmental, from civil society, academia, the media or the private sector.

Public stakeholders

Any interested and/or affected party – including individuals, institutions and organisations – from the government or any of its related public entities.

Citizen and stakeholder participation

Consists of all the ways in which stakeholders can be involved in the policy cycle and in service design and delivery. These include:

• Information: an initial level of participation characterised by a one-way relationship in which the government produces and delivers information to stakeholders. It covers both on-demand provision of information and “proactive” measures by the government to disseminate information

• Consultation: a more advanced level of participation that entails a two-way relationship in which stakeholders provide feedback to the government and vice versa. It is based on the prior definition of the issue for which views are being sought and requires the provision of relevant information, in addition to feedback on the outcomes of the process.

• Engagement: a process whereby stakeholders are given the opportunity and the necessary resources (e.g. information, data and digital tools) to collaborate during all phases of the policy cycle and in service design and delivery.