Improving Citizen Participation and Feedback in Your Bagh: AManual on Town Halls
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perspectives and ideas of each constituent.
Discuss
– Allows a two-way information exchange, so
that government gains a deeper understanding of ideas and
concerns of individual citizens, while citizens learn about
the government’s perspective on an issue.
Collaborate
– Facilitates greater interaction between
government and citizens leading to partnerships that involve
the community in the entire process, including identifying
potential solutions or courses of action, defining alternatives
and determining the citizen-preferred solution.
Further, town hall meetings can benefit citizens and gov-
ernment by facilitating accessibility to government officials
and information. Often town hall meetings provide citizens
with their first-ever opportunity to interact with elected offi-
cials, obtaining important, unmediated information about the
officials and their work. These events serve to jumpstart the
process of give-and-take between citizens and officials, en-
couraging mutual engagement on key issues. They can also
improve governmental accountability and responsiveness by
encouraging direct and honest conversation between citizens
and elected officials. Town hall meetings create an environ-
ment in which citizens are empowered to express individual
or group concerns with the knowledge that their government
representatives have heard their needs and ideas. From the
perspective of the government officials, learning the most
pressing issues of the community allows government to act
more efficiently, produce more meaningful results and ward
off criticisms of neglect, corruption or political prejudice.
Choosing a town hall meeting format
Town hall meetings can use a variety of formats, which
will depend on what you are trying to achieve and the pref-
erences of the community. Irrespective of which format you
