The paradoxes of deliberation: 'Te Ohaakii a Hine - National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together (TOAH-NNEST) and the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence (2007-2009)

Abstract

As part of recent efforts to advance participatory policymaking, there is increased collaboration between government and women's groups creating, in principle, 'deliberative mini-publics'. While there is substantial literature debating the merits of mini-publics, their longer-term influence on 'macro-political' environments is still unfolding. This article examines the particular case of a successful collaboration between the New Zealand government and the sexual abuse sector (represented by Te Ohaakii a Hine - National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together or TOAH-NNEST) in the specially commissioned Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence, which ran from 2007 to 2009 to evaluate the processes and politics of engagement. Drawing on interviews and documentary evidence, the article maps the oscillating nature of engagement for TOAH-NNEST, and the gains and losses in partnering with successive governments since its inception in 2006. The analysis in this article identifies the factors that led to the success of the 'mini-public'/Taskforce, and those that disabled the impacts of the successful collaboration at the macro-political level. The article concludes with a discussion about the challenges of engagement for community groups in dynamic political and policy contexts.