However, unlike the Western liberal-democratic governance approach, Abu Dhabi’s model is not intending to achieve egalitarian objectives, tackle a democratic deficit or enhance governmental accountability. Nevertheless, Abu Dhabi’s monarchs want to engage the public in the reform process not only because, traditionally, the Sheikhs have always sat down and listened to their people. Moreover, public engagement is close to the hearts of Abu Dhabi’s authoritarian leaders because they are keen to understand people’s personal experiences of policies and services, and to harness the power of the public for service improvement. This does not mean, however, that the government wants to engage the public for collective discussions of the political questions that lie behind policies and services.