Consensus model of society and state institutions cooperation in public administration

Problem setting. Despite the attempts of state authorities to emphasize the readiness for constructive cooperation, the current state of relations between the state and society in Ukraine does not improve the situation in this direction. Therefore, the necessity of applying different models and approaches to the coordination of management activities between the institutions of society and the state is precisely within the context of public administration.
Recent research and publications analysis. The issue of management activity of government institutions occupies a prominent place in state-management research studies. Some aspects of the interaction between the institutions of society and the state were investigated in the works of T. Andriychuk, S. Teleshun, V. Gelston, O. Kornievsky, E. Kuznetsov, M. Latsybi. The foreign experience in this field has been introduced by I. Belyi.
Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. Taking into account the current interaction between authorities and citizens, it is worthwhile to focus on specific mechanisms for optimizing the coordinated management activities of public and state institutions. In particular, the question of the place and role of civic organizations as the key elements of civil society and their managerial potential in these processes has not been studied yet.
Paper main body. In this case, we propose a consensus-based public-government model that can be used as a mobilization-integration tool for organizing citizens in any territorial environment – whether it is a united territorial community, a specific region, or a country as a whole.
Government bodies and local self-government bodies, while implementing the process of decentralization of public administration at all levels, create favorable conditions for publicity and openness of communication with civil society institutions and public organizations in particular. Proceeding from the fact that the process of decentralization is aimed at the end-to-end democratization of institutional relations and affirms the admission of certain administrative powers of representatives of civil society, we consider it appropriate to reformat the nature of relations in the direction of promoting civil society organizations, where their role will be tangible and public, not superficial.
This concerns the practical involvement of representatives of civil society into the cooperation with authorities, through a synthesis of the distribution of managerial powers and the adoption of consolidated decisions. This, in our understanding, is the introduction of a consensus model.
The key category in this research is the term “consensus”, which is understood as the fact of the consent of the main socio-political forces (entities) regarding the distribution of power and management values. It can be also understood as the search for mutually acceptable solutions that can satisfy all stakeholders in the management process. In this model, it is important to have an equitable distribution of functions performed by its subjects, as well as a balance of interests and relationships that operate on the principles of consensus-based democracy.
The most important incentive for the conscious and systematic adoption of this model is the desire and ability to find a common language and units on the way of realizing socially important tasks. The following principles, such as trust, respect, consistency, persuasion, purposefulness, serve as incentives for using this model in public administration. The experimental platform for such a model is an open discussion platform, which we regard as a modern approach in public administration, indicating the refusal of the monological way of obtaining the true result and the recognition of the dialogue in achieving the results. Consequently, one should speak about the awareness of each participant of the managerial process of the subjectivity of state-public relations.
Management procedure that would implement this model should be democratic, since dictates and excessive control over the functioning of the consensus structure overturns the conceptual nature of this form of cooperation. The key role of the state in this context is to give the initiative to public organizations, public leaders, managers, insiders, which we would call agents, to offer the field of activity on parity, stimulating conditions.
Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. The use of a consensus model in practice will facilitate the establishment of close partnerships between the institutions of society and the state. The stereotypes of the managerial superiority of state authorities over public initiatives and functional inability of civic organizations to influence the implementation of state policy are the real obstacles in this process. Therefore, the model is one of the many opportunities for attracting institutions to the national context, an important content of social communication, the basis of coordination and management activities, which generally has a real and effective impact on the development of democratic governance.