Can e-democracy improve participation?

What is E-democracy

• Synonyms- tele-democracy, direct democracy, digital democracy, e-governance, e-participation, deliberative democracy, cyber democracy…

• ICT based solutions that offer the public an opportunity to influence and participate in the policy process.

Why is it necessary?

• Political Participation declining

• Membership of political parties down

• Voter turnout low

• General distrust in politics

Examples of E-democracy

• Online Questionnaires

• Discussion Forums

• Webchats with elected representatives

• Email directories

• Online Voting (Estonia and Switzerland)

• Streaming footage of debates

• Political information

Why has e-democracy become popular?

• More people have Internet Access: 13.1 million had home access in May 2005

• Government increasingly obligated to show accountability

• Internet is becoming a media for protest (e.g Make Poverty History and Fathers for Justice)

• Novelty factor

Arguments for e-democracy

• Facilitate dialogue between public and government

• Empower populations and strengthen community engagement

• Reduce barriers to participation such as time, geographical location and allow for views to be expressed in a private non-confrontational arena

Arguments for E-democracy cont.

• Appeal to “hard to reach” groups (e.g young people)

• Innovative solutions could encourage “bottom up” participation.

• Knock on effect on “conventional” democratic process

Arguments against e-democracy

• Undermine legitimacy of institutions/ Institutional reform not keeping up

• Could be dominated by well-organised groups

• Danger of abuse/ Security Issues

• Limits of participation: how much participation do people want?

The Digital Divide

• Approximately 1/3rd of the UK population have never used the Internet

• 74% of 18 to 24 year olds used the internet compared to only 15% of those over 65 (Curtice et al 2005).

• Wide differences in use between highest qualified and least qualified

• 85% of professional and managerial households have home computers with internet access in 2004 compared, at the other end of the social scale to 35% of those people who are unemployed or reliant on social benefits (ODPM 2005).

Is E-democracy Effective?

• How are the results collected and analysed?

• If anonymous how can abuse be prevented?

• Do the results feed into the policy process?

• Limits of democracy and participation• Whose problem is digital exclusion?• Paradigm shift or simply another tool?