1. Is
E-­‐Democracy
a
Myth?
Civic
Par)cipa)on
and
Democra)c
Reform
Dr
Julie
Freeman
PhD,
University
of
Canberra,
Australia
Sharna
Quirke
MSc,
Public
Sector
TransformaDon
Consultant,
UK.

2. Literature
review
The
focus
of
E-­‐Government
so
far
has
been
informaDon
disseminaDon
and
transacDonal
service
delivery.
Bekkers
and
Homburg
2007:
Digital
democracy
is
a
myth
of
e-­‐government
Norris
2010:
Empirical
survey
based
evidence
that
e-­‐government
does
not
naturally
lead
to
e-­‐democracy
Jimenez,
Mossberger
&Wu
2012:
Governments
have
placed
liNle
emphasis
on
the
development
of
online
pracDces
that
enable
civic
contribuDon
to
impact
decision
making.
Can
government
led
e-­‐parDcipaDon
iniDaDves
have
an
impact
on
democraDc
governance?
Using
two
case
studies
we
explore
the
characterisDcs
of
e-­‐Democracy
both
in
terms
of
what
it
looks
like
and
how
it
can
emerge
as
a
government
led
iniDaDve.

3. E-­‐Democracy
–TheoreDcal
Framework
Informa?on
Consulta?on
Par?cipa?on
One
way
relaDonship
where
government
produces
and
distributes
informaDon
to
ciDzens
The
provision
of
informaDon
which
involves
ciDzen
feedback
on
issues
predetermined
by
government
AcDve
involvement
by
ciDzens
in
the
policy
making
process,
in
which
ciDzens
can
propose
policy
opDons
and
share
the
direcDon
of
the
poliDcal
dialogue
In
Promise
and
Problems
of
E-­‐Democracy
(2003)
OrganisaDon
for
Economic
CooperaDon
and
Development
(OECD)
E-­‐Government
InformaDon
TransacDons
E-­‐Engagement
ConsultaDon
E-­‐Democracy
ParDcipaDon

4. Case
Studies-­‐
Government
led
E-­‐ParDcipaDon
Criteria:
• The
use
of
ICT
to
achieve
‘parDcipaDon’
as
defined
by
OECD
• Used
a
range
of
ICT
based
techniques
specifically
for
broader
poliDcal
acDon
and
goals
• Government
led
iniDaDve
• European
based
Milton
Keynes:
Youth
Engagement
and
Youth
Cabinet
Iceland:
Cons9tu9onal
Crowdsourcing

5. Local
E-­‐ParDcipaDon:
Milton
Keynes
• ‘New
Town’
in
England
and
is
54
Miles
north
of
London
• PopulaDon
of
approx
250,000
with
22.3%
under
16
years
of
age
• Less
young
people
at
Youth
Centres
and
outreach
work
increasingly
challenging
• Youth
Workers
started
to
explore
the
use
of
technology
to
increase
parDcipaDon,
including
what
parDcipaDon
might
look
like

6. Used
social
media
to
share
informaDon
on
behalf
of
council
with
the
aim
to
connect
with
tradiDonally
‘hard
to
reach
groups’.
Culture
shock:
Shiding
from
informaDon
sharing
to
targeted
engagement
was
seen
predatory
Started
as
informaDon
sharing
and
then
grew
into
e-­‐parDcipaDon.
Acceptance:
Young
people
wanted
a
role
in
the
decision
making,
parDcularly
transport
and
employment
opportuniDes.
Relinquished
Control:
of
the
council
website
allowing
a
page
to
be
re-­‐branded
‘My
Say
MK’
and
the
content
management
controlled
by
youth
volunteers
Local
E-­‐ParDcipaDon:
Milton
Keynes

8. NaDonal
E-­‐ParDcipaDon:
Iceland
ConsDtuDonal
Crowdsourcing
• PopulaDon
320,000
• Internet
penetraDon
of
95%
of
households
• 2010
ranked
135
in
the
UN’s
e-­‐
parDcipaDon
index
and
jumped
to
rank
26
in
2012
• Civic
Pressure:
Collapse
of
the
Iceland
banking
sector
lead
to
poliDcal
uncertainty
and
civil
protest

9. NaDonal
E-­‐ParDcipaDon:
Iceland
ConsDtuDonal
Crowdsourcing
Change
in
Culture:
New
government
was
formed
which
led
to
consDtuDon
reform,
focussing
on
distribuDon
of
power,
transparency
and
responsibility.
CiDzens
could
join
discussions,
or
convey
their
thoughts
through
Facebook,
TwiNer
and
Blogging.
Members
of
the
ConsDtuDonal
Council
would
post
videos
on
YouTube
and
photos
on
Flickr.
Power
shid:
Despite
a
referendum
with
64.2%
voDng
in
favour.
Parliament
did
not
pass
the
bill.

10. CharacterisDcs
of
e-­‐Democracy-­‐
what
does
it
look
like?
• E-­‐
parDcipaDon
is
conDnuous,
open,
transparent
engagement
between
mulDple
individuals
and
their
government.
• It
is
triangular
not
bilateral
engagement
using
qualitaDve
dialogue
to
achieve
specific
aims
and
objecDves.
• It
is
Important
to
combine
the
online
with
off
line
methods
of
engagement

11.
CharacterisDcs
of
e-­‐Democracy-­‐
How
it
can
emerge
as
a
government
led
iniDaDve?
• Civic
pressure
• Government
culture
change
is
needed
– acknowledging
the
change
in
civic
behaviour
– accepDng
the
e-­‐parDcipaDon
acDvity
• Power
shid
must
be
allowed:
The
elected
officials
need
to
relinquish
a
degree
of
control
LimitaDons:
Accountability
NegaDve
ramificaDons
of
poor
decisions

12. Conclusion
• The
focus
to
date
has
been
on
e-­‐government
not
e-­‐democracy
• Greater
focus
needs
to
be
given
on
understanding
e-­‐parDcipaDon
and
its
potenDal
to
contribute
to
democraDc
reform
• E-­‐democracy
is
not
a
myth-­‐
but
the
case
studies
show
three
common
characterisDcs
which
are
needed
• A
gradual
democraDc
shid
has
begun
Thank
you.
Sharna
Quirke
MSc
Email:
sharna.quirke@gmail.com
TwiNer:
sharnaquirke