Transparency of Local Authorities’ Decision Making

The indicator measures the number of actions organized by the targeted local authorities to inform people about the results of their decisions that affect the quality of local residents’ lives and influence local development. Such practice is an important aspect of increasing the transparency of the local authorities’ decision-making processes.

Calculate the indicator’s value by using the following methodology:

1) Define what criteria the authorities’ dissemination activities have to meet in order to be considered as disseminating decisions in a transparent manner (the criteria must be realistic and adapted to the local context).

2) Conduct interviews with the representatives of the target authorities collecting the following data:

Q: The [specify the name of the local authority] frequently makes decisions about the allocation of its budget, about new services for local residents, and other plans related to the development of the local communities. In the past [specify the period], what were the different ways people living in this area could learn about the results of such decisions? 

Probe: Were there any other ways in which people could learn about the outcomes of such decisions?

3) As much as possible, verify whether the provided information is correct. For example if the respondent mentions that an information leaflet was produced, request the (soft) copy. Similarly, if s/he says that an information meeting was organized, request the meeting minutes or a list of participants.

4) Per each targeted local authority, calculate the number of conducted activities that meet the pre-defined criteria.

5) To calculate the average number of implemented activities, sum up all the “eligible” activities (those that passed your criteria) and divide them by the total number of interviewed authorities.

1) If possible, cross-check the information provided by the target authorities by conducting key informant interviews with the local citizens – for example, with the people who attended authorities’ information sessions.

2) If possible, at the beginning of the project, ask your project staff to attend some of the information events in order to gain more qualitative insights into their content and quality.

3) In the case your organization intends to conduct a quantitative survey among a representative sample of the local target population, consider changing the indicator to: “% of the local residents reporting that in the past [specify the period] they received information about the outcomes of the local authorities’ decisions” (consider also specifying the frequency - e.g. "at least twice"). When setting the target, be realistic about the proportion of the target population the authorities' communication channels can reach.