Public Participation

Public participation is an integral part of many agency decision-making processes and central to ACUS’s statutory mission (5 U.S.C. § 591). As ACUS has recognized in the context of agency rulemaking: “By providing opportunities for public input and dialogue, agencies can obtain more comprehensive information, enhance the legitimacy and accountability of their decisions, and increase public support for their rules.” This page provides access to ACUS recommendations, reports to ACUS, and ACUS-organized events related to public participation in agency processes.

Please contact Kazia Nowacki (knowacki@acus.gov) for more information or to provide additions, updates, or corrections.

• Recommendations

• Projects

• Publications and Reports

• Forums

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Recommendation 2023-2, Virtual Public Engagement in Agency Rulemaking

• Recommendation 2021-3, Early Input on Regulatory Alternatives

• Recommendation 2021-1, Managing Mass, Computer-Generated, and Falsely Attributed Comments

• Recommendation 2018-7, Public Engagement in Rulemaking

• Recommendation 2018-6, Improving Access to Regulation.gov’s Rulemaking Dockets

• Recommendation 2017-2, Negotiated Rulemaking and Other Options for Public Engagement

• Recommendation 2014-4, "Ex Parte" Communications in Informal Rulemaking

• Recommendation 2013-5, Social Media in Rulemaking

• Recommendation 2011-8, Agency Innovations in e-Rulemaking

• Recommendation 2011-2, Rulemaking Comments

• Recommendation 2011-1, Legal Considerations in e-Rulemaking

PROJECTS

• Public Participation in Agency Adjudication

PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS

Statement of Principles for Public Engagement in Agency Rulemaking (2023)

Information Interchange Bulletins

• IIB-019, Federal Advisory Committee Act Basics

• IIB-016, Early Input on Regulatory Alternatives

• IIB-014, Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking

Reports

• Kazia Nowacki, Virtual Public Engagement in Agency Rulemaking (May 25, 2023)

• Christopher Carrigan & Stuart Shapiro, Developing Regulatory Alternatives Through Early Input (June 4, 2021)

• Steve Balla, Reeve Bull, Bridget Dooling, Emily Hammond, Michael Herz, Michael Livermore & Beth Simone Noveck, Mass, Computer-Generated, and Fraudulent Comments (June 1, 2021)

• Michael Sant’Ambrogio & Glen Staszewski, Public Engagement with Agency Rulemaking (Nov. 19, 2018)

• Todd Rubin, Regulations.gov and the Federal Docket Management Service (Dec. 1, 2018)

• Cheryl Blake & Reeve T. Bull, Negotiated Rulemaking (June 5, 2017)

• Esa L. Sferri-Bonistalli, Ex Parte Communications in Informal Rulemaking (May 1, 2014)

• Michael Herz, Using Social Media in Rulemaking: Possibilities and Barriers (Nov. 21, 2013)

• Cary Coglianese, Federal Agency Use of Electronic Media in the Rulemaking Process (Dec. 5, 2011)

• Steven J. Balla, Public Commenting on Federal Agency Regulations: Research on Current Practices and Recommendations to the Administrative Conference of the United States (Mar. 15, 2011)

• Bridget C.E. Dooling, Legal Issues in E-Rulemaking (Mar. 17, 2011)

FORUMS

Forum on Enhancing Public Input in Agency Rulemaking (December 1, 2021)

This forum explored the important role of public input in federal agency rulemaking. Through two panels and remarks, it considered what types of public input are most valuable to agencies and how agencies can structure the rulemaking process to receive that input. The forum examined both best practices under the current notice-and-comment process and possible reforms that would enhance public participation in the rulemaking process.

Watch the forum here, or read the transcript here.

Forum on Underserved Communities and the Regulatory Process (November 2021)

This forum addressed participation by underserved communities and their members in the administrative processes (including rulemaking and adjudication) by which agencies make regulatory policies. It addressed Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, which requires that federal agencies “pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all,” including communities “that have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” 

Six panels featured leading governmental policymakers, community advocates, and academic experts. Watch the panels here:

• Panel 1: Identifying Underserved Communities [Transcript]

• Panel 2: Sources of Reforms to Improve Engagement with Underserved Communities [Transcript]

• Panel 3: Barriers Preventing Underserved Communities from Participating in Regulatory Policymaking [Transcript]

• Panel 4: Learning from Past and Present Efforts to Engage with Underserved Communities [Transcript]

• Panel 5: Learning from State and Local Agencies’ Efforts to Engage with Underserved Communities [Transcript]

• Panel 6: Expanding on Efforts to Engage with Underserved Communities [Transcript]

Mass and Fake Comments in Agency Rulemaking (October 5, 2018)

This forum addressed the phenomenon of mass comments and the rise of fake comments in rulemaking. Speakers included leading government policymakers and academic experts.

Read a transcript of the forum here.