'Gwanak-style participatory democracy' draws global attention as resident-led governance model earns international recognition.
Residents take part in every stage of the campaign pledge process — citizen-driven pledge management system wins global acclaim.
Gwanak-gu won the Special Award at the 20th OIDP Participatory Democracy Awards on Wednesday for its case titled "Beyond Promises: Gwanak-gu's Citizen-Led Manifesto Governance."
It is the first South Korean local government to receive the award.
The OIDP Participatory Democracy Awards are presented by the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (OIDP), an international network under United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), to identify and promote outstanding examples of participatory democracy at the local government level.
This year's competition drew a record 188 submissions from 41 countries. After an initial screening, 40 cases advanced to the final round, and Gwanak-gu's citizen-led manifesto governance model earned the Special Award following a final review and public vote.
The core of Gwanak-gu's citizen-led manifesto governance model is a system that breaks from the conventional approach — in which the administration unilaterally implements campaign pledges — by enabling residents to take an active role at every stage, from proposing and finalizing pledges to monitoring their implementation and evaluating outcomes.
During the eighth elected-term administration, the district worked with residents to design six overarching goals and 60 key campaign pledges, incorporating public input throughout. Resident participation bodies have since continuously monitored pledge implementation, while a policy advisory panel has put forward 103 policy proposals. A resident jury took part directly in adjusting and revising pledges to reflect community views, operating a systematic pledge management system grounded in civic engagement that has strengthened administrative transparency and accountability.
Particularly notable is "Gwanak-cheong," a forum where District Mayor Park Jun-hee meets directly with residents — held 571 times to date, gathering input from about 2,000 constituents. The digital platform "Online Gwanak-cheong" also provides a year-round channel through which residents can propose policies and share opinions anytime, anywhere.
The district has also made the status of pledge implementation publicly available, strengthening residents' right to know and their engagement in policy. In recognition of its achievements in improving the accessibility and efficiency of both online and offline civic participation, Online Gwanak-cheong was selected as an OECD public-sector innovation case in 2022.
Through this systematic, resident-driven approach to pledge management, Gwanak-gu achieved a campaign pledge fulfillment rate of 99.8 percent during the eighth elected term, translating its commitments to residents into tangible policy outcomes.
"This award is all the more meaningful because it has brought Gwanak-gu's achievements in participatory democracy — built together with residents who took part directly in every stage from proposing pledges to implementing and evaluating them — to the attention of the international community," District Mayor Park Jun-hee said. "We will continue to develop a citizen-led participatory democracy in which residents' voices become policy and our promises to them lead to real change, so that Gwanak-gu can establish itself as a city leading 'K-democracy.'"
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
