General Principles and Regulations of Electronic Participation

General Principles and Regulations of Electronic Participation

The Jordanian government adopts the principles of transparency and community participation in the decision-making process as its priorities by operationalizing the process of dialogue and communication with all segments of society, including citizens, residents, and stakeholders, through communication channels and information technology known as electronic consultation channels. The outcomes are then used in formulating procedures, legislation, and government decisions.

To ensure the effective use of electronic consultation channels by participants and to achieve the goal of community participation and its organization, general principles of electronic participation and its regulations have been established. According to this document, the concept of “participants” refers to individuals, institutions, civil society organizations, and all segments of society, who wish to comment, suggest, propose and participate in the decision-making process.

Applying these principles and regulations by members of local community during the submission of proposals, recommendations and consultations with government authorities regarding project proposals and legislations will positively answer their need from public services. This, in turn, will build trust in government performance and create constant commitment by community members to participate and express their opinions on new government projects and legislations that benefit the local community. Additionally, involving the local community in shaping public policies will contribute to improving opportunities for community development, achieving the principle of equal opportunities, controlling corruption, thus creating collective responsibility in bearing the burdens and participating in public issues by providing effective contributions through all available participation channels provided by government entities.

Additionally, the government aims in issuing these principles and regulations to implement both the second commitment of the Partnership Of Open Government Initiative -Fifth National Action Plan (2021-2025) – which focuses on enhancing community participation in the decision-making process through electronic means, and to prepare legislation and guidelines necessary for the implementation of the Jordanian Electronic Participation Policy, which was approved by the Cabinet in 2021. The policy aims to involve the local community in the development and implementation of legislation and public policies while recognizing the rights and special interests of local community groups.

The General Principles of Electronic Participation: 

• Trust: The basis for achieving the best outcomes among parties is through the clarity of procedures followed by the government, and through taking into account of the constructive opinions of the participants. 
• Transparency: Disclosure of the inputs, outputs, and outcomes of the electronic participation process conducted between the government and participants. 
• Inclusiveness and non-discrimination: Allowing participation for everyone without discrimination or distinction for the purpose of enhancing the participation process. 
• Credibility: The participations shall express the personal opinions and ideas of the participants. In the event of referring to other sources, the participant must mention the source. 
• Intellectual property: Respecting intellectual property principles, as the content of the electronic participation platform and any resulting content in social media or in any other form is protected by the intellectual property laws and regulations of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 
• Privacy and Personal Data Protection: Refraining from publishing personal data such as name, contact information, address, and other related information. 
• Respect and no offence: Mutual respect through the use of constructive and non-offensive language to achieve the best outcomes, and the participations must be free of abuse to individuals or entities. 
• Clarity and effective participation: The participations shall be in clear language related to the debated content, shall not contradict laws and ethical values, and shall not violate legal rights and intellectual property of others. 
• Responsibility: Reporting any participations that violate the usage policy and/or violate individual privacy and/or violate local legislation. 
• Social Accountability: To research, analyze, and discuss the issues and problems that affect the community as a whole for the common good through openness, participation, oversight, and monitoring by individuals and civil society organizations on government performance. 
• National integrity: All activities adhere to national integrity standards and are implemented accordingly.

The Role of Civil Society in Achieving the Principles of Electronic Participation:

The government encourages civil society organizations to contribute to the operationalization of public electronic participation process, as it recognizes their role in representing and reaching to various segments of local community. In addition to the principles mentioned above, the role of civil society organizations can be summarized as follows: 

• Enhancing the trust of the local community in the electronic participation process and its credibility. 
• Preparing periodic reports on government performance through the electronic participation platform and the effectiveness of government consultation. 
• Contributing to reaching a larger number of stakeholders in the public participation process to influence the decision-making process. 
• Collaborating between government agencies and civil society organizations to operationalize the electronic participation process and guide decision-makers towards responding to the interests of the local community. 
• Contributing to raising awareness among members of the local community and various entities about the importance of public participation and its obtainable means. 
• Contributing to building effective communication with marginalized segments of society and ensuring the inclusion of all segments of society in the public participation process.