Scope of Work – Consultant

Collective and Participatory Policymaking

Period of Performance:

May14 – August 29, 2018 (flexible)

Location of Work:

Washington, DC – New Haven, CT – New York City, NY

Background:

The purpose of the USAID/DRG Center-funded and FHI 360-led Strengthening Civil Society Globallyprogram (SCS Global) is to identify and develop evidence-based, effective approaches to strengthen civil society and independent media in open and closing environments.SCS Global has a three-pronged strategy to achieve this purpose: a) enhance knowledge of effective approaches through research, b) refine or pilot effective approaches and methodologies, and c) promote those approaches and methodologies through learning events and dissemination.

Writing for Civicus, Rietbergen-McCracken(2017) refers to Participatory Policymaking as a general approach to “facilitate the inclusionof individuals or groups in the design of policies via consultative or participatory means to achieve accountability, transparency and active citizenship.”Participatory Policymaking approaches can be top-down or bottom-up, confrontational or collaborative. Many non-industrialized country governments have opened the political space for participatory policymaking through external suggestion or pressure. Reviewing industrialized country experience, Hoppe (2011) critiques participatory policymaking can be used as an “optional add-on” for normal channels of decision-making by dominant political players. Papadopoulos and Wiran (2007) notethe institutional challenge of their authentic use since they legitimate decision-making via deliberation and negotiation among collective stakeholders threatening the existing institution whererepresentatives make decisions based on having won competition for that authority. Still, these approaches hold promise since they involve citizens as direct actors in creating and solving problems (a specific form of policymaking) associated with the common good.

SCS Global seeks to better understandthe conditions for when and approaches for how a domestic civil society can be supported to work with government to open political space for participatory policymaking and collective problem solving. Sample research questions include:

  • Under what conditions are participatory policymaking approaches effective (or not effective)?Is an open political space and willing government necessary?Might hostile government relations with civil society trigger those kinds of efforts?
  • What might be proposed typology of those processes e.g. based on (complexity, dynamic, nature of the problem, outcome, and actors involved, level of possible conflict etc?)
  • Over what period was it sustained and what was basic dynamic of the process
  • What are the most effective models and methods for a multi-stakeholder coalition to open the political space for these approaches? And what are the resource implications for parties involved?
  • What were the roles and motivations of actors (beyond traditional NGOs) in the process?
  • What might be role of external actors in the process?
  • Are there alternative tactical models that have been or could be used when a society is experiencing a closing political space?

Furthermore, SCS Global seeks to understand the most effective collaborative roles and approaches for international development actors and partners to play in these efforts.

In pursuing these questions, SCS Global seeks cooperation with influential democracy-promoting institutions extend knowledge and impact of the research and learning activities. The Brookings Institution has conducted mini-experiments on Participatory Policymaking and Civicus has released a toolkit for Policy and Planning that may be a supportive to discuss the relevance, practicality and applicability of these approaches. Many other institutions are involved in research and promotion of participatory policymaking both on a global level (UN and OECD in particular) and regional level e.g. Council of Europe. Several countries including US (once popular concept of Wiki Government) and many others are in active (sometimes despair) search for new (more participatory) governance models.

Detailed Task Description:

A consultant is needed to advance this work through two phases. Phase 1 is the preparation of a working paper of approximately 15 pages focusing on Collective and Participatory Policymaking. It should include a detailed review of the method and discussion of cases where this approach succeeded (and failed), lessons learned from implementation including a discussion of the conditions where it succeeded (failed) and recommendations for how to refine or when to use the method. Also in this phase, the consultant should provide recommendations of experts and people experienced in these approachesto attend a round table forum to discuss the review.

Phase 2 includes travel to Washington, D.C. and possibly the greater New York City area, for approximately one-to-two weeks, to participate in the round table forum and hold a series of smaller meetings with key informants and stakeholders. The purpose of these meetings would be to discuss the implications and gaps in knowledge/practical approaches identified in the review, and it incorporate the insights and themes from these discussions into a final product.

DeliverablesPct Total PaymentTarget Due Date

Desk Review / 20% / 11 June
Recommendations for Panel, Invitees / 15% / 22 June
Panel Discussion / 20% / 25 July
Edits, Revisions to Desk Review for Version 2 / 45% / 13 August (completed final: 29 August)

Technical Direction:Riley Abbott

Performance under this Work Order shall be subject to the technical direction of the above named FHI 360 employee(s). Only those individuals named in the Work Order may issue technical directions.

Evaluation Criteria:

Applicants should be subject-matter experts in the field of collective and participatory policymaking as it relates to international development, with a minimum of 7 years of direct experience working on these themes in both academic and professional settings. Must be able to write clearly and fluently in English to produce the desk review and facilitate the panel discussions.

How to Apply:

All interested applicants can submit their CVs, biodata forms, budget, and a response to the SOW detailing all relevant professional experience and academic papers on the subjects discussed above to the following email address:

The SCS Global team will evaluate all applications submitted by May 7, and will notify the candidate of their offer and steps forward to finalize the consultant agreement by the start of the consultancy (May 14).

Disclaimers:

  • FHI 360 may cancel the solicitation and not award
  • FHI 360 may reject any or all responses received
  • Issuance of the solicitation does not constitute an award commitment by FHI 360
  • FHI 360 reserves the right to disqualify any offer based on failure of the offeror to follow solicitation instructions
  • FHI 360 will not compensate any offeror for responding to solicitation
  • FHI 360 reserves the right to issue award based on initial evaluation of offers without further discussion
  • FHI 360 may choose to award only part of the activities in the solicitation, or issue multiple awards based on the solicitation activities
  • FHI 360 reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition
  • FHI 360 will be contacting each offeror to confirm contact person, address and that bid was submitted for this solicitation