Abstract
In the article, the transparency of lawmaking and the increase of societal impact on legislation are considered as a manifestation of the tendency to democratize lawmaking. This tendency operates in conjunction with a number of conflicting factors of a national and supranational character. As a result, the process of introducing new lawmaking technologies is uneven. In reality, completely opposite variants of the organization of societal impact are possible: from the desire to involve potential ‘consumers’ of a normative act as much as possible in the process of its creation, to the tacit resistance of state bodies to ‘outside’ influence on lawmaking. In the article, the difficulties in implementing democratic technologies in the lawmaking process in Russia are considered using the example of two instruments: regulatory impact assessments and public lawmaking initiatives. Both examples show that such technologies have not yet provided a significant increase in the quality of legislation. One of the reasons for this is likely to be low societal activity, which is connected with the fact that Generation Z is still very young and, for this generation, e-participation and e-influence can be interesting and understood. An alternative (cheap and fast) way to improve the quality of legislation is to use a variety of smart regulatory tools, including behavioral insights, which have been tested in other countries. However, even here, in order to limit the possibility of manipulation and unfair influence on the part of the state it is necessary to build mechanisms that ensure the transparency of lawmaking. It is too early to talk about the significant impact on lawmaking of procedures related to public participation. At the same time, creating an infrastructure for such influence, even if it is not yet filled with sufficient content, is an important step without which it would be impossible to actually erode the monopoly on power decision-making in the future.
The study is financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Project No. 21-18-00484, https://rscf.ru/project/21-18-00484/.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Doering (2019).
- 3.
- 4.
European Commission (2010).
- 5.
OECD (2018).
- 6.
Davydova (2013).
- 7.
Didikin (2020), pp. 71–90.
- 8.
Ibid.
- 9.
Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation (2019).
- 10.
Turgel and Panzabekova (2018).
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
Jacobs (2015).
- 13.
Ibid.
- 14.
U.S. Government. We the People. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov.
- 15.
Sabochik (2011).
- 16.
White House to ‘temporarily’ shut petition website. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42409634.
- 17.
Please ask New York state to overturn recent abortion expansion laws. We the People. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/please-ask-new-york-state-overturn-recent-abortion-expansion-laws.
- 18.
Robertson (2018).
- 19.
Shmyrova (2018).
- 20.
Reshenie prinyato [Decision made]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/complete/.
- 21.
Protiv povysheniya pensionnogo vozrasta dlya rossiyan [Against raising the retirement age for Russians]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/42476/.
Ne dopustit’ povysheniya vozrasta vyhoda na trudovuyu pensiyu po starosti [Prevent raising the retirement age for old-age retirement]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/42375/.
Ne dopuskat’ povysheniya pensionnogo vozrasta [Avoid raising the retirement age]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/42328/.
- 22.
Otmenit’ zakon o proizvol’nyh blokirovkah internet-resursov ot 02.07.2013 № 187-FZ (zakon protiv interneta) [Repeal the law on arbitrary blocking of internet resources from 02.07.2013 No. 187-FZ (law against the internet)]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/4494/.
Otmenit’ “zakon Yarovoj” [Cancel the ‘Yarovaya law’]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/28432/.
- 23.
Zapret chinovnikam i sotrudnikam kompanij s gosudarstvennym (municipal’nym) uchastiem priobetat’ legkovye avtomobili stoimost'yu svyshe 1.5 millionov rublej [Ban on officials and employees of companies with state (municipal) participation purchasing cars worth over 1.5 million rubles]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/759/.
Ob ugolovnoj otvetstvennosti za nezakonnoe obogashchenie chinovnikov i inyh lic, obyazannyh predstavlyat’ svedeniya o svoih dohodah i raskhodah [On criminal liability for illegal enrichment of officials and other persons obliged to provide information on their income and expenses]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/9376/.
Otmena prava prioritetnogo proezda vsekh avtomobilej, krome avtomobilej operativnyh sluzhb [Cancellation of the right of priority passage for all vehicles, except for emergency vehicles]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/636/.
- 24.
Ne vklyuchat’ v minimal’nyj razmer oplaty truda (MROT) kompensacionnye i stimuliruyushchie vyplaty [Do not include compensation and incentive payments in the minimum wage (minimum wage)]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/32499/.
- 25.
Organizovat’ ‘Zelenyj shchit’ Moskvy i Podmoskov’ya v predelah 70 km ot MKAD, ogranichiv na etoj territorii vyrubku lesa [Establish a Green Shield in Moscow and the Moscow Region within 70 km of the Moscow Ring Road, limiting deforestation on this territory]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/22543/.
- 26.
Izmenit’ nadpis’ na fasade Ledovogo Dvorca imeni Kapustina Sergeya Alekseevicha (gorod Uhta) s ‘Ledovyj Dvorec’ na nadpis’: ‘Ledovyj Dvorec imeni Sergeya Alekseevicha Kapustina’ [Change the inscription on the facade of the Ice Palace named after Sergey Alekseevich Kapustin (the city of Ukhta) from ‘Ice Palace’ to the inscription: ‘Ice Palace named after Sergei Alekseevich Kapustin’]. Russian Public Initiative. https://www.roi.ru/2671/.
- 27.
The Obama White House (2012). President Obama Responds to We the People Petitions Related to Gun Violence. YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5ynVMBxOus.
- 28.
European Commission (2020). Petition the EU. https://ec.europa.eu/info/about-european-commission/get-involved/petition-eu_en.
- 29.
UK Government and Parliament. Petitions website. https://petition.parliament.uk/.
- 30.
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Generation Z. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Generation%20Z.
- 31.
Rubin (2014).
- 32.
Ambrogi (2015).
- 33.
Wike and Castillo (2018).
- 34.
- 35.
Gunningham and Sinclair (2017).
- 36.
Ibid.
- 37.
Kalmykova and Kabytov (2019).
- 38.
European People’s Party (2015).
- 39.
European Commission (2010).
- 40.
Gunningham and Sinclair (2017).
- 41.
Baytin (2001).
- 42.
Voplenko (2009).
- 43.
Thaler and Sunstein (2008), p. 190.
- 44.
Alekseev (2008).
- 45.
Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 258-FZ ‘On experimental legal regimes in the field of digital innovations in the Russian Federation’ dated July 31, 2020. Rossiyskaya gazeta no.173.
- 46.
Davydova and Makarov (2020).
- 47.
OECD (2010).
- 48.
OECD (2015).
- 49.
OECD (2019).
- 50.
U.S. President (2015). Nudge-it. https://www.nudge-it.eu. Behavioural Insights Team. http://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk. Danish Nudging Network. https://www.danishnudgingnetwork.dk/ (Alemanno and Sibony 2015).
- 51.
Wilkinson (2013).
- 52.
Zorzetto and Ferraro (2019).
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Davydova, M.L. (2022). New Technologies and Societal Impact on Legislation: Moving towards Transparency in Lawmaking. In: Ferraro, F., Zorzetto, S. (eds) Exploring the Province of Legislation. Legisprudence Library, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87262-5_9
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