Behavioural Insights in Consultation Design: A Dialogical Architecture

In this paper, we examine consultation procedures in the light of behavioural sciences. Wefeature consultation as a dialogue between the administration and the participants in the formof a public good game with one or more tournaments. Our focus is on the architecture of thedialogue and its design. We propose three models characterised by the varying degrees of theinteraction among participants, and between participants and the administration, occurringduring the consultation process. We suggest that mapping stakeholders according tohomogeneity of interest influences the structure and affects the dialogue taking place duringthe consultation process. We then examine the levels of efforts parties would engage in,defining models that maximise efforts and adjust for different cognitive stakeholders’capabilities, advocating an empirical approach. The paper concludes with policyrecommendations on how to improve the current consultation design deployed at EU andnational level.