Public Participation in the Development and Implementation of the National Security Strategy of Ukraine

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of public participation in the formation and implementation of the national security strategy of Ukraine, as well as to the identification of problems and prospects in this area. The author summarizes the concept of public participation. It is emphasized that public participation is a process by which citizens are involved in public administration decision-making, policy development, planning, and implementation of projects that affect their lives and society as a whole. The legal and legislative framework for public participation in the formation and implementation of the national security strategy of Ukraine is outlined. The role of non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and expert groups involved in monitoring national security issues is revealed. Among them are: The Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, the Come Back Alive Foundation (since 2024, the PZ Initiatives Center), the Center for Media Reform (StopFake), the Institute for Information Security, the Center for Civil Liberties, and the Public Committee for National Security of Ukraine. Some dialogue platforms for discussing national security issues are described, in particular, at the local level: group discussion, focus group, street survey, research walk, open meeting, workshop of ideas (workshop). The analysis of the scientific publications allowed us to identify the levels of public participation and their impact. In particular: I manipulation, II therapy, III informing, IV consulting, V taking into account opinions, VI partnership, VII delegation of authority, VIII public management. The author emphasizes the last three levels, which are characterized by real (effective) participation of citizens in the process of planning, making, and implementing public administration decisions in the form of partnership, referendums, etc. The author analyses the key problems of public participation in the formation and implementation of the national security strategy of Ukraine, namely: insufficient transparency of processes, limited opportunities for involvement, low public awareness, lack of effective feedback mechanisms, insufficient support for public initiatives, information manipulation and disinformation, and lack of a unified policy on public security. The author outlines the ways to solve the problems and eliminate their consequences, and proposes promising directions for the development of public participation in the formation and implementation of the national security strategy of Ukraine.