Citizens Influence Decision Making

• Consultations


  The government gathers views on a proposed change and citizens can put their opinions forward and have their voices heard
• The more responses received the more likely the government is to be influenced by citizens' feelings and more likely to come to the same conclusion as respondents
• As of March 2024, there are 262 open consultations anyone can respond to on several different topics
• The government may only use consultations to look good as they do not have to listen to them, they are only suggestion or opinion
• The Scottish Government consulted in early 2020 about introducing tougher rules for non-cosmetic surgery, like lip fillers, yet 15 months later has not even published the responses or any decisions made
• Consultations are usually responded to within 12 weeks and are taken very seriously by the government with most consultation responses being read by at least one person
• Petitions


  Individuals or groups start petitions to demand action, the more people that sign it the more influential it can be as the government may worry about upsetting the signatories
• The government has the ability to ignore petitions, as shown by the two biggest petitions in UK history to cancel Brexit and ban Donald Trump from the UK gaining over 7 million signatures between them with no further action taken
• As soon as a petition gains 10,000 signatures the government must give a response to it and if it reaches over 100,000 it is then considered for debate in parliament
• Pressure groups


  Groups made up of a large number of citizens who have specifically come together to influence the government on an issue they share a want to resolve
• If pressure groups are not an insider group which work with the government privately and keep their methods low profile, they are unlikely to gain government support and may be ignored