This guide will assist local authorities in developing and implementing two-way communication processes to solicit and respond to public feedback on shared policy priorities. It is primarily intended for elected officials and staff representatives of local authorities, but it should also be useful to local civil society and citizen associations, as well as anyone interested in solving local problems with public input.
A feedback loop is a mechanism for local leaders to engage in two-way communications with community residents to support informed and responsive decision-making about local issues. The process is straightforward:
- Reach out to residents to identify and set priorities (Listen).
- Work with citizens to codesign solutions to address identified priorities or challenges (Respond).
- Keep residents updated every step of the way, even if the only update is about a new obstacle or slower-than-hoped progress (Report).
This guide offers a ten-step model for local authorities to design and implement the feedback loop process and, hopefully, to review and build upon successes and lessons learned to institutionalize the process as a regular practice for repeated use.
This guide emerged from the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI’s) years of experience implementing citizen engagement programs in collaboration with subnational government leaders and community members worldwide. In particular, this guide draws on NDI’s experience supporting feedback loops and two-way dialogues among local mayors, council members and community residents in towns and cities in Moldova, Georgia, Mexico, El Salvador and Slovakia. The steps in the guide also apply best practices from a growing community of activists and leaders implementing more participatory decision-making processes around the world.
In a democracy, elected public officials, supported by unelected officials (like city managers) and professional civil servants, are mandated with managing public affairs to improve the public welfare. This job becomes easier when public officials understand and respond to residents’ priorities. The feedback loop model is therefore a useful and empirically verifiable tool in a local leader’s public engagement toolbox. By systematically bringing citizen input into decision-making and requiring leaders to follow up on commitments to take action openly and transparently, the process strengthens democratic norms and practices, benefits residents and helps local leaders to address complex challenges and manage public expectations.