E-Rulemaking

Discussion

e-Rulemaking needs mediators

Audrey Tang (in an article on Taiwan):

"The Cornell e-Rulemaking Initiative’s RegulationRoom project summarized the three main obstacles in its report:

• Ignorance: Citizens know very little about agencies and next to nothing about the role, nature, or importance of rulemaking.

• Unawareness: Citizens often do not know how to make relevant contributions to a policy discussion.

• Information Overload: The sheer mass and technical complexity of the materials often overwhelm participants.

Therefore, e-Rulemaking needs mediators to actively communicate with the stakeholders, ensure a safe space for commenting, and effectively present background information. Only then can discussions be meaningful.

@ETBlue, a gov-zero community contributor, stated in her speech: “The later the public gets involved in the process of recognizing the problem, planning a policy, and getting it into the legislative agenda (such as the Cross-Strait Trade and Services Agreement), the less trust they will have in the policy-making.” (https://medium.com/@audrey.tang/challenges-for-taiwan-s-civic-hackers-in-2016-385af61d6e79#.93z3nralh