Emerging technologies are changing how governments interact with their citizens. Governments at all levels are also increasingly willing to open up their data to the public and create innovative channels to engage with their constituencies. This global trend towards open government is characterized by increased disclosure of information and access to information, amplification of citizen voices, and better service delivery thanks to enhanced accountability. In practice, however, governments’ efforts towards open government sometimes run short to meet the elevated citizens’ expectations and demands.
In order to take a snapshot of the local governance stance in Turkey through an “open-government” lens, Argüden Governance Academy conducted an innovative project that scored 37 district governments of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality using governance-related indicators and publicly-available information obtained through local governments’ websites. The citizen-centric Governance Scorecard project accessed key local government processes using 227 measurable indicators developed along seven principles of democratic governance: consistency/coherence, responsibility, accountability, fairness, transparency, effectiveness and deployment/participation (CRAFTED).
During this session, Mr. İnan İzci, Local Governance Researcher of Argüden Governance Academy, presented the methodology developed and the results obtained for this exercise. He also discussed good practices identified in some municipalities around decision-making, resource utilization, service provision, and institutional capacity development.