Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge

Manish Bapna, representing the World Resources Institute and the Open Government Partnership (OGP), argues that while open government cannot solve all global crises alone, it is a necessary prerequisite for solving them. He identifies a failure of governance evidenced by the rise of populism, extreme poverty, and climate change. To combat this, he proposes five steps: protecting civic space, fostering citizen-centered governance, pursuing transformational rather than incremental change, improving tangible quality-of-life outcomes (such as clean air and water), and reinvigorating political leadership to deepen the impact of OGP commitments.

• The author asserts that global crises, including the rise of populism, the refugee crisis, extreme poverty affecting 700 million people, and climate change, are symptoms of a failure in governance and a lack of open government that meets the needs of all people.
• Protecting civic space—specifically the rights to free speech, assembly, and association—is identified as a critical first step, noting that these rights are repressed or obstructed in 25 active OGP countries and violated in over 100 countries according to CIVICUS.
• The document calls for a shift from 'co-creation' to 'citizen-centered governance,' where citizens have a full voice in policy making to ensure leaders understand the priorities of their citizens' daily lives.
• There is a need for transformational rather than incremental change; currently, only 5 percent of OGP commitments have been fully implemented and transformative in impact.
• Open government should be leveraged to achieve tangible improvements in basic services, including providing safe drinking water, clean air, reliable electricity, and quality healthcare.

APA

Bapna, M. (2016). Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/fighting-exclusion-inequality-and-distrust-open-government-challenge

Chicago

Bapna, Manish. Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge. World Resources Institute, 2016. https://www.wri.org/insights/fighting-exclusion-inequality-and-distrust-open-government-challenge.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Bapna |first1=Manish |title=Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=7 December 2016 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/fighting-exclusion-inequality-and-distrust-open-government-challenge |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{bapna2016fighting, author = {Bapna, Manish}, title = {{Fighting Exclusion, Inequality and Distrust: The Open Government Challenge}}, publisher = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2016}, month = dec, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/fighting-exclusion-inequality-and-distrust-open-government-challenge}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }