End of Commitment Report – Strengthening democracy

Name of Evaluator

Carlos de la Peña Jimenez O’Farril, Daniel Rosemberg Cervantes Perez, Jesus Ponce Rubio

Email

carlos.delapena.j@gmail.com, drosemberg@gmail.com, jponce9911@gmail.com

Member Name

Mexico State, Mexico

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Title

Action plan – Mexico State, Mexico, 2021 – 2022

CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action...

Strengthening democracy

Action

Generate a link and closer ties with the people of Mexico State, promote informed and reasoned voting, transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More and citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More in the electoral process, as well as the involvement of the population in public affairs, beyond the exercise of the vote by citizens.

Problem

Distrust among people and with respect to political leaders and popular representatives; scepticism, the perception of ineffectiveness in the performance of the authority and the ineffectiveness of the citizens ability to influence decision-making. Ultimately, the dissatisfaction and disenchantment of the inhabitants of the State of Mexico with democracy.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

complete

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The commitment established the development and implementation of the DecideIEEM platform as a communication channel between citizens and political parties in the framework of the 2021 electionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... More, which was achieved satisfactorily, including operating in two extraordinary elections in 2022.

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

Within the implementing entity (Electoral Institute of the State of Mexico), the appropriate technological and dissemination tools were available to carry out the commitment, giving a timely account of the progress during the ordinary sessions of the Local Technical Secretariat. Externally, it was well received by the political institutes that participated in the elections, providing information on their candidates and allowing interaction with citizens regarding proposed solutions to specific problems. Although this tool could only have been used by people with internet access, it is an interesting first exercise that proposed a novel communication channel between parties and society.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

All of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

As stated in the commitment, the platform was developed with the accompaniment of civil society from those who received improvement proposals to make the user experience more inclusive. At the end of that, campaigns were carried out to disseminate this tool for broad public knowledge.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Decide IEEM

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Derived from this commitment, two effects could be appreciated: the first, a broader social knowledge about the work of the Electoral Institute of the State of Mexico; the second, that interest was aroused in citizen sectors to better understand the candidates who presented themselves in the 2021 and 2022 elections, as well as daring to propose concrete actions that could be incorporated as part of the electoral offer of parties and candidates.

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Since it was an interactive platform, it allowed the flow of information in two ways, the IEEM being a mere bridge to communicate citizens with political institutes. The fact of having offered this tool also allowed citizens who entered the DecideIEEM page to learn information about the electoral system, the electoral processes, and everything that could be used to make an informed decision regarding who to vote for in the elections. ordinary and extraordinary elections in which the platform operated.

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Yes, although it would be worth pointing out that the Electoral Institute of the State of Mexico is an autonomous body that fulfills the state function of organizing elections in the entity, but is not part of the government structure.

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The objective of generating a link and rapprochement with the people of Mexico, promoting informed and reasoned voting, transparency, and citizen participation in the electoral process, as well as the involvement of the population, was met in public affairs, beyond the exercise of the vote for citizenship.

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

The mechanism turned out to be an appropriate instrument to disseminate information about parties and candidates, although limited to people with Internet access and with a real interest in participating in a different way within the framework of the electoral process. In this sense, if it is carried out frequently every time there are elections, it can serve as a socially institutionalized channel to generate rapprochements with political actors and citizens, in such a way that a facet of Mexican democracy is consolidated, opening the dialogue for the Joint proposal of actions aimed at solving a specific problem.