E-Government and Democracy

Commissioned to assist drafting of the United Nations World Public Sector Report (click here for more details), this report articulates democratic outcomes in e-government - from a United States perspective. The 41-page paper is based on the premise that local communities should have the opportunity and responsibility to use the Internet to enhance citizen participation and improve government decision-making. As author Steven L. Clift states, this influence is based on the fact that citizens are close enough to their local governments to seek and receive real feedback on the effectiveness of online tools in their political participation. The author urges readers to download the report and send it to their local elected/government officials; he claims that "It is full of 'we can do that' examples that might spur a bit of local innovation".

Thirteen case studies are provided. Also included are links to related articles and the new e-mail list for e-government practitioners and experts interested in the democratic opportunities of e-government. To join this peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, email do-egov-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Here are some excerpts from the article:

Summary

"Leading governments, with democratic intent, are incorporating information and communication technologies [ICTs] into their e-government activities. This trend necessitates the establishment of outcomes and goals to guide such efforts..."

Introduction

"E-government and democracy, fused together, are one piece of the e-democracy puzzle. Whether it is online campaigning, lobbying, activism, political news, or citizen discussions, the politics and governance of today are going online around the world. What is unknown, is whether politics and governance - as we know it - is actually changing as it goes online.

"From the perspective of each government, civil society, or business organization, it is relatively easy to explore our institutional role in building participatory democracy online. Taking the whole situation into account is the difficult challenge. We are not building in a vacuum, nor are we developing our efforts in a constant environment. In the end, the only people who are experiencing the totality of the emerging democratic information-age are citizens or e-citizens.

"This research takes a comprehensive look at the democratic outcomes that can be sought by government, civil society, and others in order to deepen and enhance participatory democracy online. With a particular focus on e-government and democracy, the vision for online-enhanced participatory democracy, or "e-democracy", relies on an incremental model of development that involves the many democratic sectors and their institutions across society.

"The democratic institutions of government (including representative bodies and elected officials), the media, political parties and interest groups, as well as citizens themselves, are going online across the world. The question is not - will we have e-democracy? It exists today based on the positive and negative uses of this medium by democratic institutions, non-democratic actors, and citizens. The real question is - knowing where we are and what is possible, what kind of e-democracy can or, better yet, should we build?

"Governments, as a public institutions and guardians of democracy, need to play a proactive role in the online world. First, they need to maintain existing democratic practices despite pressures coming from the information-age. Second, they need to incorporate and adapt online strategies and technologies to lead efforts that expand and enhance participatory democracy. Deepening citizen participation in democracy is vital to ensuring that governments at all levels and in all countries, can both accommodate the will of their people and more effectively meet public challenges in the information-age.

"The path toward information-age democracy is a deliberate one. Political and social expectations and behavior change too slowly to expect information and communication technologies (ICTs) to give us a direct, uncomplicated path to greater participatory democracy. The is no "leap frog" path that easily leads to responsive governance that supports human and economic development. The e-democracy path needs to be mapped out, so it can be traveled with confident and assured steps.

"This article explores the following ICT-enabled path with the governmental perspective in mind:

1. Understanding "as is" political and governance online activity by establishing baseline measurements, including current citizen experiences.
2. Documenting government best practice examples and the sharing of results.
3. Building citizen demand and civil society activity.
4. Spreading practice and creating more deliberative options and tools.

"...Even in the most democracy-friendly places, steps one and two are stumbling blocks. Tools being developed for step four are for the most part outside of government. Overall, the foundation of understanding, government practice, and citizen experience has not been fully explored or developed. Efforts to build ICT-enhanced participatory democracy may be delayed by those in power, if change promoted from the "outside" is highly politicized. Slow uptake is also possible if the use of ICTs for meaningful democratic participation is not seen as inevitable, even if a government agrees in principle that new forms of participation are desirable.

"Only by demonstrating that participatory governance leads to better democratic outcomes - helping society develop and meet its political, social, economic and cultural goals - will ICTs in political participation become inevitable, well resourced, and fully implemented."

Click here to download the full report in PDF format; click here to access a Word version of the report. Visit the author's website to access related (e-government and democracy) articles.