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ISSN number: 1746-4757

  

Renewing Democracy with 'E-Community Councils'

Ann Macintosh and Andy McKay-Hubbard

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Abstract

This paper examines action to address the growing political apathy facing many European countries through the possibility of renewing democracy at the local level using e-democracy. We describe the reasons why we need to develop e-democracy tools to support local decision-making and report on work in progress on a project to support wider democratic participation using ICT to support community councils. This project is developing a “community e-democracy model” supported by “community e-democracy tools” that will help to achieve the kind of dialogue and engagement between Community Councils and local communities that will support democratic decision making processes. The research work we are undertaking has the potential to provide a framework for e-democracy at local community, and in so doing contribute knowledge to a broad range of strategy and planning policies.

1. Introduction

This paper focuses on the need to develop e-democracy tools and techniques to create new opportunities for democratic participation at the community level. E-democracy is concerned with the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to engage citizens, support the democratic decision-making processes and strengthen representative democracy [1]. The principal ICT mechanism is the internet accessed through an increasing variety of channels, including PCs, both in the home and in public locations, mobile phones, and interactive digital TV.

The democratic decision making processes can be usefully divided into two main categories: one addressing the electoral process, including legally-binding e-voting, and the other addressing citizen e-participation in democratic decision-making. Several commentators have discussed the use of technology to support the democratic process. Coleman and Gøtze [2] have outlined four possible scenarios for technology supporting democracy. Becker and Slaton [3] have explored the current state and future of e-democracy initiatives that are designed specifically to move towards direct democracy, while Tsagarousianou et al. [4], have provided descriptions of a number of projects involved with e-democracy and civic networking.

Our work takes as its primary focus e-participation. The notion of e-participation and responsible citizenship brings attention to bear on access to information, the nature of participation in public debate and opportunities for communities to provide input to political decision-making and policy formulation [5]. The overarching objective of our work is to investigate renewing local democracy by enabling people and communities throughout Scotland to have greater influence over factors affecting their lives. We address this objective by investigating how ICTs can enable the renewal of democracy at the local level.

2. Context

Our work specifically addresses the important aspect of democracy at the local community level through e-democracy. We argue that geographical communities need e-business, e-government transaction services and e-democracy. A large number of existing initiatives in Scotland focus on access to e-business opportunities and access to e-government public services, very few projects have as their primary focus renewing local democracy through e-democracy.

It is clear from the increasingly low turnout at elections that traditional democratic processes do not effectively engage people. In the May 2003 elections to the Scottish Parliament the average turnout was 49.4% as compared to 59% in 1999 [6]. In one constituency of Glasgow only 35.41% voted. The situation in local government is even worse. The City of Edinburgh Council May 2003 election results demonstrate this. All wards showed a fall in turnout with an average drop in turnout of 9.71%. with the lowest turnout being just 36.7%. There is a clear need to renew democracy at the local level by considering new engagement tools and techniques.

The issue of the digital divide [7] and its implications for e-democracy needs consideration. For several years, a major concern in many countries has been the consequence of unequal access, lack of proper infrastructure and low adoption of technology. This has created a digital divide, excluding many, particularly those in already socially disadvantaged groups, from the perceived benefits of the information society. The digital divide is not just about lack of access to technology due to financial factors but also about lack of use due to low levels of awareness, interest, understanding and acceptance of new ways of working.

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Footnotes

1. Macintosh, A., 2004. Characterizing E-Participation in Policy-Making. Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-37), January 5 – 8, 2004, Hawaii.return

2. Coleman, S. and J. Gøtze, 2001. Bowling Together: Online Public Engagement in Policy Deliberation. Hansard Society and BT, London. return

3. Becker, T. and C. Slaton, 2000. The Future of Teledemocracy, Westport, Conn. LC. return

4. Tsagarousianou, R., D. Tambini and C. Bryan, 1998. Cyberdemocracy: Technology, Cities and Civic Networks, Routledge, London. return

5. OECD, 2004. Promises and problems of e-democracy; Challenges of Citizen on-line Engagement. OECD, Paris return

6. www.scottish.parliament.uk/research/briefings-03/sb03-25.pdf return

7. Norris, P., 2001. Digital Divide: Civic Engagement Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide. Cambridge University Press, USA. return