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Mot en digital demokrati? Teknik, politik och institutionell förändring

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... The way in which technology is used at one stage thus seems to be of importance for the goals and operations associated with the technology at a later stage. The findings can be interpreted as a cumulative technological effect, or a process in which the goals are gradually being adjusted to the available means (Åström 2004; Åström & Brodin 2001). Perhaps because of the quite limited use of eParticipation methods so far, there are very few evaluations focusing on what eParticipation would mean for the role and functioning of political parties and representatives. ...
... They often describe the basis of the initiative, process management, different actors' perceptions of them as well as lessons learnt. One common conclusion is that governmental and citizen perspectives are significantly different from each other, especially when it comes to online debates, and that elected representatives and public officials are rather disconnected from these processes (see, for instance: Åström 2004; Granberg & Åström 2007; Nilsson & Eneman 2005; Ranerup 1999; Grönlund 2001 Grönlund , 2005). Somewhat more positive evaluations have followed the so-called 'deliberative referendums' in cities like Kalix, Malmö, Vara and Sigtuna (Åström 2004; Eklund 2002; Becker & Ohlin 2006; Reinikainen & Reitberger 2008; Grönlund 2001 Grönlund , 2005). ...
... One common conclusion is that governmental and citizen perspectives are significantly different from each other, especially when it comes to online debates, and that elected representatives and public officials are rather disconnected from these processes (see, for instance: Åström 2004; Granberg & Åström 2007; Nilsson & Eneman 2005; Ranerup 1999; Grönlund 2001 Grönlund , 2005). Somewhat more positive evaluations have followed the so-called 'deliberative referendums' in cities like Kalix, Malmö, Vara and Sigtuna (Åström 2004; Eklund 2002; Becker & Ohlin 2006; Reinikainen & Reitberger 2008; Grönlund 2001 Grönlund , 2005). Most importantly, perhaps, is that they seem to have had a real impact on policy decisions. ...
Article
This deliverable of DEMO-net Project provides a review of the available empirical research on eParticipation in the institutional domain, privileging the social and political sciences disciplinary perspective. It includes analyses of eParticipation research, in six European countries (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden), also drawing on the scientific documentation available in the different national-language, and an overview of the recent international research literature. The analyses tackle several aspects of eParticipation research, including theoretical approaches, research findings, research questions, and methods. The deliverable also outlines overall research findings and future directions in the analysis of eParticipation.
... Parallel to the development of changing patterns of political participation and the decline in support for the system, the world has entered the era of digitalisation. While the effect of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on politics has been discussed since the earliest days of the internet (Åström, 2004;Bennet & Segerberg, 2012;Castells, 1998;Chadwick, 2006;Chadwick & Howard, 2009;Diamond, 2012) it was only during the 2010s that the use of ICTs in political settings became mainstream. As Farrell (2012) argues: ...
... Returning to the discussion above, we can trace the different values embedded in DIs to different normative ideals and various organisational designs. Due to the design of DIs, it is reasonable to assume that their implementation in a political organisation also introduces certain challenges for the governmental organisation, as the institutional logics embedded in DIs are different from a traditional strict representative logic (Åström, 2004;Åström & Grönlund, 2012;Fountain, 2011). As DIs until recently has been applied ad-hoc or as one-off experiments, it is reasonable to assume that their effect on governmental organisations has been limited. ...
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There are many indicators that the representative democratic system is cur-rently facing serious legitimacy challenges. Two central indicators of these challenges are changing patterns of political participation and a decline in system support. Against this backdrop, a growing number of governments claim that democratic innovations (DIs) could reconnect institutions with citizens. This thesis focuses on online DIs implemented in real political contexts, and the overarching aim of the thesis is to contribute to the emer-gent empirical scholarship on how DIs can influence political systems. In the last two decades, most empirical studies in the field have analysed DIs at the micro level. This thesis takes a different stance by posing system-related research questions to the implementation of DIs and, by doing so, showing how DIs are interrelated with, rather than isolated from, the politi-cal system and that DIs can influence political systems. The thesis consists of one literature review and three empirical case studies, applying a multiple methodological approach. Its novelty lies in three main empirical findings that contribute to the development of the field. First, it shows that participation in DIs can influence citizens’ per-ceived trust towards local political institutions. In addition, the results sug-gest that predispositions and prior engagement mediate the direction of change in trust amongst citizens. Secondly, the results show that DIs can perform different political functions, such as facilitating spaces for citizens to provide original ideas and deliberation, while also having an agenda-setting function. Thirdly, the results also suggest that long-term institutional change is complex and that the implementation of DIs can create a situation in which civil servants and politicians perceive their organisation to be in some ‘state of flux’, as they are torn between two competing institutional logics. In conclusion, this thesis should be understood as a piece in a broad-er movement that works towards a systemic approach to the study of DIs, and that by showing these empirical findings, the thesis contributes to deep-ening our understanding of what influences and functions DIs can have in political systems.
... Comments When discussing the possibilities for the future development of political parties and representative institutions, which can help tackle issues of deficient legitimacy for political parties, some scholars point to a potential evolution of political representation towards a more communicative and interactive practice (Koopenjan 2004, Åström 2004, Coleman 2005a, 2005b, & 2005c, Montin 2006, Williamson 2009:309, Coleman & Blumler 2009). Lacking the use of party position as a reliable indication of the constituents' will 2 and the party organization for administering the linkage to the voters, representatives are thought to become more communicative and interactive with their voters in order to secure the legitimacy of their representation. ...
... This exposé towards a definition of interactivity in political representation will take its starting point from the thinking of one advocate of interactivity in political representation as a normatively desierable ideal, Leif Lewin, and review the central themes in his usage of the concept in democratic theory in the model of interactive democracy (Lewin 1970, Boström 1988, Lewin 2003, Åström 2004). In short, interactive democracy can be described as a model for democracy intervening between direct and indirect democracy. ...
... While the impact of ICTs on politics has been debated since the dawn of the internet [68], it was not until the 2010s that ICTs were widely used in political contexts. It is difficult to research the politics of fundraising, election advertising, political activity, public diplomacy, or social movements without considering the Internet [69]. ...
Research
The current state of Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence technology has ushered in a new age of governance and government. Human inconsistencies and limits can be eliminated from governance and government systems. This article examined the feasibility of constructing a Decentralized Automated Direct Government system using Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence and various political and legal ideas through an exhaustive analysis of the literature. It is then transformed into an architectural model of a Decentralized Automated Direct Government System. Stakeholders or people vote, propose, and make decisions without the participation of a management body or representatives. Numerous machine learning techniques are used to organize and analyze data. Finally, the analysis and development of this system are explored from the viewpoints of implementability, automaticity, transparency, decentralization, security, and performance.
... As there currently is no coherent framework for conducting systemic analyses, this study will apply an analytical framework developed by institutional theorists. Other frameworks that have been used include those that concern the impact of DIs on citizens' trust in democratic institutions (Åström et al. 2016;Christensen et al. 2015) and the deliberative qualities of policy-making processes (Jonsson 2015;Dryzek 2010;Mansbridge et al. 2012 (Jonsson 2015;Åström et al. 2017;Irvin 2004), other empirical studies with a short-term perspective show that the representative institutional logic continues to prevail despite their implementation (Núñez et al. 2017;Åström 2004). Even in the short term, DIs are often said to be implemented on the surface of governmental organisations and therefore do not challenge the dominant representative institutional logic (Blaug 2002;Åström/Grönlund 2012;Ganuza/Baiocchi 2012). ...
Article
Although democratic innovations (DIs) are spread all over the world, there is little research on the institutional outcomes of implementing such innovations in governmental organisations. To remedy this, it is important to focus on cases where DIs have been implemented and formally connected to the policy making process over a longer period. Reykjavik provides such a case. Drawing on observations and interviews with key stakeholders over a period of three years, this study analyses how the institutional logic of DIs influenced the local government in Reykjavik. The study presents two conclusions: First, it is clear that one equilibrium (representative democracy) has not been replaced by another (participatory democracy). Second, there is no peaceful co-existence between the two, but instead the outcome is an organisation in ‘a state of flux’. There are several factors contributing to this outcome, but three stand out: a populist power-shift, dissatisfaction with the working of the implemented DIs and deliberative ambiguity. In the final part of the article, the institutional outcome is discussed in relation to overall consequences for the political system.
... Are these resulting differences related to blog activity? Theories concerning the impact of technology on politics suggest that a further investment in and experiences of a specific technology might influence the tendency of political actors to use this technology in a more innovative and challenging way (Åström, 2004;Norris, 2001;Xenos & Moy, 2007). The analyses give some indication that this is the case, but only show greater gender differences among politicians who blog more actively. ...
Article
This article explores gender differences in political communication among blogging politicians. The article sets out to explore two baseline questions: (1) Are distinct gendered ‘blogstyles’ to be found among political representatives? and (2) How do gender and gendered blogstyles interplay and affect the impact of political blogs? The empirical study draws on a survey targeting blogging politicians in Sweden (N = 523). The analysis identifies substantial differences in how female and male politicians communicate in the blogosphere as well as the outcomes in terms of feedback and impact. Female politicians, to a greater degree than their male counterparts, utilize blogging for the purpose of fostering a stronger connection with their readers as well as to enquire about ideas and policy perspectives. This strategy seems to be successful for fostering qualitative feedback from readers; yet, female bloggers have far less impact than their male colleges. We discuss two potential understandings of these results: relating to gender stereotypes and the network power structure of the blogosphere.
... 39 Åström & Olsson (2006b), p. 212. 40 See for instance Åström, Joachim (2004) Mot en digital demokrati? Teknik, politik och institutionell förändring; Baldersheim, Harald, Haug, Are Vegard & Øgård, Morten, eds. ...
... Incitamenten för att engagera sig i deliberativa samtal anses dock vara störst när det finns en strävan efter konsensus och skäl att tro att goda argument väger tyngre än antal röster. Om votering eller aggregering introduceras avtar vanligtvis incitamenten att diskutera i takt med antalet deltagare som inkluderas i processen -majoritetsdynamiken tar över(Chambers 2001;Åström 2004). Eftersom Malmöinitiativet är öppet för alla som vill delta och aggregering av signaturer är ett framträdande drag så torde alltså drivkraften för debatt i detta forum vara relativt liten.Till detta kan fogas incitamentsstrukturen på Internet och medborgarnas politiska beteende on-line, vilket präglas av låga trösklar, högt deltagande, individualisering, känslouttryck såväl som logiska argument samt en pluralitet av uttrycksformer (text, musik, film etc.) och arenor. ...
... Faced by challenges like increasing Europeanization, the drift towards decentralization and privatization, reduced voter turnout and party membership, and decreasing citizen participation in traditional member-based organization, the government has tried out various means of delivering the institutional possibilities of including citizens in various parts of the policy process (SOU 2000;Amnå 2006a;Dahlstedt 2009). At local government level, citizens' panels and e-consultations have been introduced (Montin 1998;Åström 2004;Sedelius & Åström 2011;Karlsson 2012) and, at national government level, participatory forums and formal agreements between the government and civil society organizations have been presented (Jacobsson & Sundström 2006, 130-136;Reuter 2012). Thereby, it is hoped that representative democracy is strengthened, and the formulation of policies made more workable, legitimate and effective, but without neocorporatist arrangements. ...
... Changes in practice require organizational adaption that goes along with technology adoption, but is this really what our decision makers want? Time after time, governments have adopted e-participation methods that do not interconnect with existing institutions, which they do not intend to change [Åström 2004;Åström and Grönlund 2011]. The question is: will this be different when attempting to extend multi-criteria decision analysis to the public? ...
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New approaches and tools are required because of the increasing request for public participation and democratic decision making. There are two particular major challenges associated with this namely, applications allowing for large numbers of users and the balancing of participation and expertise. This article tests a method attempting to achieve this by combining a multi-criteria decision approach with different forms of discussion and deliberation. The method involves relaxed requirements for user exactness in statements of opinion and was tested on 90 students aged 17-19. Is it possible to extend multi-criteria decision analysis to the public? In order to answer this question, our research focuses on (1) scalability, or the potential for increased participation, as well as (2) decision quality, i.e. whether the alternatives are reflected upon and if there have been reasoned judgments. The test and survey found both these criteria met. The findings suggest that the method can be used for large scale participation during a decision making process, but also that a participatory process is improved by lengthier deliberation and more than one point of measurement so that opinions can stabilize.
... participation initiatives are often characterized by relatively low electoral participation as well as relatively weak political trust among citizens. Case studies report that local politicians often view e-­‐ participation initiatives as a potential remedy for these challenges [24]; [25], which indicates a link between circumstantial factors and e-­‐participation initiatives. However, it soon becomes evident that the catalyst for change is not very strong. ...
Conference Paper
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Why and how do e-participation policies sometimes flow with politics as usual and sometimes lead to challenging powerful elites and institutions? With the aim of investigating this question, we introduce a framework for comparative research that includes not only systemic but also circumstantial factors. The approach is tested in a comparative case study of three northern European countries–Sweden, Estonia and Iceland–that are all experimenting with e-participation but which are experiencing rather different levels of crisis. The results show that innovation and elite challenging aspirations are very much related to the type and degree of crisis. It is therefore argued that the interplay between institutional constraints and circumstantial catalysts needs further scholarly attention and elaboration.
... The Internet, as communication medium, is being increasingly used by citizens and governments in most advanced democracies [Gibson et.al, 2003]. ICT has changed the way government and citizen can communicate and offers a new action space for politicians and citizens to act within [Åström, 2004] and is thus used as a medium for communication [Kuuti, 1996]. This arena is dependent on the possibilities and restrictions the citizens are offered to communicate upon. ...
Article
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Not only in Sweden are governments designing and maintaining web sites, this to be able to improve interaction with their citizens. It is therefore important to choose the best suiting website design, communicating the intended values. In this paper two Swedish municipality front pages are compared with respect to mediated user roles, user groups, action space (action possibilities and restrictions), and communicated producer intent. This highlights how values can be mediated in website design. One increasingly important arena for citizen-government interaction in Sweden is Swedish municipality websites. These websites are often designed based on experiences from existing designs, other types of media, and face-to-face communication. Designs are created in a social context where expectations and experiences are important influences. Values are therefore present in the design as well as during the evaluation of the effects of using websites (for a discussion on values in IT see e.g. (Mumford, 1981; Hedström, 2004)). These values are studied by a genre analysis, and named mediated values as they are created when actors interact with a media such as websites. The purpose with this paper is to exemplify how values are mediated through a design, and highlight the importance of value awareness in the design of government websites. Focus is on how a website as a communication medium can be used to mediate values, for example what roles that are established between for example a municipality and the citizen, through the used design elements. Thereby how different designs promote e.g. certain user roles and suppress others. First of all a theoretical framework will be presented where mediated values and the term genre is presented. The research method will thereafter be described, how the comparison between two municipality website designs has been conducted. The comparison will then be presented and finally we will present some conclusions.
... Previous studies have indicated that Norwegian local municipalities vary with regard to e-government achievements (Christensen & Aars, 2002;Norsk Gallup, 2002;SSB 2003). Studies in other Nordic countries have also demonstrated variation among municipalities in this respect (Åström, 2004;Hoff et al., 2000;SKTF, 2002;Torpe & Nielsen, 2002). And as mentioned above, similar findings are evident in, for example, the US, Spain, and the Netherlands. ...
Article
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In this article, key findings from a survey of all municipal Web sites in Norway are presented. The focus is on e-democracy; that is, to what extent local democracy is enhanced by facilitating online political communication. What forms of political or democratic practice are made possible and/or catalyzed by the forms of political communication on these Web sites? The findings indicate that when online political communication is obtainable, the center of attention is information provision rather than online interactivity and political participation. Consequently, the Norwegian municipalities primarily use their Web sites to stimulate one of Dahl's classic democratic ideals, namely enlightened understanding. The second ideal, means for effective participation, is not particularly developed. Several hypotheses on what might explain the variation are also tested. Four findings emerged as particularly interesting: First, communication needs and overall resources explained much of the variation. In addition, municipalities that outsource Web site operations/development to private companies lag behind with regard to online political communication. Finally, although unexpected, there was no center-periphery gap as to the development of online political communication channels.
... Katz & Mair 1994;Hayward 1995). When discussing the possibilities for representative institutions tackling issues of deficient legitimacy, several researchers point to the potential of a more communicative, interactive practice of political representation (Margetts 2001;Å ström 2004;Coleman 2004Coleman , 2005aColeman , 2005bColeman & Blumler 2009;Williamson 2009, p. 309). ...
Article
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Considering the recent interest in more interactive practices in political representation, this article argues that there is a need to understand the differentiated meanings and functions of this form of communication. The subject of political representation as interactive communication is addressed theoretically as well as empirically. A theoretical framework is presented identifying three strategic functions of interactive communication in political representation: (1) interactivity as accountability, (2) interactivity as inquiry, and (3) interactivity as connectivity. Also, empirical analyses are conducted among blogging politicians in Sweden. These analyses suggest that interactive communication among political representatives cannot be understood as either a radical change in terms of new interactive forms of representation breaking with earlier norms and ideals, or complete continuity. Instead, the argument is that representatives may adopt interactive communication strategically to fulfil different normative ideals of political representation.
... However, experiments undertaken to develop political participation do not take place in a political and administrative vacuum (Åström/Granberg 2007). Participatory experiments are always embedded in existing political and administrative institutions and may therefore be constrained by pre-existing relationships (Åström 2004; Granberg 2008; Olsen 2009). Even with consensus on the overall principles of active citizenship, active government, and interactive decision-making, the practice of citizen participation develops in a context of multifaceted contextual driving forces and interests. ...
Chapter
Experiments undertaken to develop political participation do not take place in a political and administrative vacuum. We closely examine the issue of continuity and change based on an experiment to increase citizen participation in city redevelopment in Sweden. The case is an illuminating example of the trend towards developing citizens' political experience in a more participatory direction. We conclude that there is clear tension between informal participation processes and formal administrative and democratic decision-making, and that the impact of the experiment on actual decision-making was limited. The normative implications of participatory exercises like this depend on how this tension is handled in practice.
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With the advent of strong neoliberal currents in political life after the 1980’s, many young people have been retreating from political participation. Youth around the world have increasingly been accused of being apolitical. In the wake of the events and aftermath of 9/11 in 2001, however, we have witnessed an emerging panorama of political action and transformation for people of all ages, but especially among the young. In the Turkish political context, political corruption, the impact of the global information society, as well as candidacy to EU have been important factors that have triggered political mobilization in the beginning of the 21st century. The absence of an age-based quota that could open the door for younger members in the Turkish parliament, as well as the age-limit itself for candidacy (originally set at 30 years of age) were considered significant topics that galvanized Turkish young people’s engage- ment prior to the general elections that took place in November 2007. Strong public opinion was formed by the mediation of relevant NGOs, think-tanks, media and ombudsmen, and in less than a year’s time the age of eligibility for holding elected office was reduced to 25 in October 2006. This would not have been possible without the huge ICT campaign initiated by civic and political youth groups, organized on a local and national level. This paper investigates this campaign in terms of its scale and impact on the dynamics of the Turkish political system, and attempts to bring out its theoretical significance.
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How regions and cities adapt to a Network Society and a globalized environment, the policies they pursue and how structures of governance are transformed in the pursuit of those policies are major themes in this volume. These issues are addressed with specific reference to the Nordic regions of Europe. Covering the four Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden plus the Faroe Islands, this volume charts the changes in networking activities and related development initiatives that have taken place over the last ten years. This means analysing regions in their pursuit of new policies, partnerships and styles of representation. Through this process regions are becoming partners and players in European integration and a movement of integrative regionalism is taking shape which is different from inward looking identity regionalism or self-centred competitive regionalism and takes regions beyond lobbying in Brussels. © 2011 Harald Baldersheim, Are Vegard Haug and Morten Øgård. All rights reserved.
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To explain how legitimacy is maintained, scholars argue that more attention must be paid to how citizens experience their encounters with public officials. In this article we ask whether greater elements of e-government may affect street-level bureaucrats and their ability to build legitimacy of the political system. Our answers are based on a case study of a Swedish municipality that was a pioneer in developing a strong position of street-level bureaucrats in the 1980s, and later also in implementing e-government reforms. We show that e-government challenges certain practical preconditions for legitimacy-building, inherent to the street-level bureaucratic role, such as responsive listening and situational adaptation.
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While the academic interest in the political blogosphere has grown exponentially in recent years, existing research is predominantly dedicated to political campaigning. In view of the “diminishing prestige of the electoral process” and the “rise of new forms of legitimacy” a broader political analysis of blogs is called for. This article investigates whether the political blogosphere is an arena for political representation by asking (1) how representatives communicate with citizens through blogging in order to aid central functions of political representation, such as accountability, connectivity, and inquiry, and (2) what strategic, technological, and normative factors explain differences in representatives’ communication with citizens. The empirical analysis, based on a survey questionnaire targeting all Swedish blogging representatives, illuminates four different approaches to blogging, with different drivers and implications for the representative democracy.
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While it has often been suggested that information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide an important means of increasing citizen participation (which is at the core of democratic government), few commentators have expected non-democracies to create online environments in which citizens can take an active part in political processes. In recent years, however, some non-democracies have begun to outperform countries with long-standing democratic traditions in terms of e-participation development. According to the 2010 United Nations (UN) e-government survey, Bahrain outranks France, Kazakhstan beats Sweden and Malaysia ranks higher than Germany. This article sets out to understand the recent rise of e-participation initiatives in non-democracies. Drawing on comparative longitudinal data from the UN e-government surveys, we tested the assertion that international drivers of change are competing with the dominant focus on domestic factors, especially in the non-democratic world, and are influencing the patterns of reform. The empirical analysis demonstrated important differences between the drivers of change in democratic and non-democratic countries and found economic globalization to be the strongest predictor of e-participation initiatives in non-democratic countries. In conclusion, we argue that economic globalization alters the context of e-participation and necessitates a re-examination of many of its premises and tenets.
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New e-participation services are heralded as an important means to achieve “citizen-centric government”. The project “Citizen-centric e-Participation” is a trilateral collaboration project between Sweden, Estonia and Iceland, combining research with networking to enhance e-participation in three countries. The project network includes partners from local governments, experienced researchers in the field as well as software companies that are exploring new possibilities and markets. The project, which is running between 2012-14, is funded by Vinnova, Rannis, Nordforsk & Estonian Ministry for Economic Affairs and Communications. The main partners include Örebro University, Praxis Center for Policy Studies, Citizens Foundation, imCode Partner, the City of Reykjavik and Haparanda and Borås municipalities. Engaging citizens in policy-making is an important aspect of the design and delivery of better public policies and a core element of what is sometimes called ”good government” or ”citizen-centric government”. Using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to gather and analyze public input is expected to stimulate public deliberation. The project explores links between standardized e-participation models and the particularities of local contexts. This report presents case studies of the e-participation policy development in Sweden, Estonia and Iceland. The case studies give readers a background to the political context and policy as well as technological development in each country and present analyses of important e-participation initiatives in each country.
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Over the last decade, the European Commission has supported and initiated participatory engineering projects to foster the participation of European citizens in EU affairs. The 2009 European Citizens Consultations (ECC) is the quantitatively largest and methodologically most complex of these projects so far, featuring multiple actors, phases and instruments of participation. The ECC project is analysed in this chapter, addressing the case of the ECC online forum in Sweden, and focusing on the complex design of the project. The origin of this complexity can be traced back to the Commission’s strategies for promoting citizen participation, and the project is analysed in relation to three tensions originating from this project design: 1) the combination of aggregative and deliberative means of participation; 2) the promotion of a deliberative form of participation in an online setting; and 3) the combination of separate participant groups in one project. In the concluding part of the chapter, he normative implications of these tensions for the Commission’s participatory engineering are discussed. The conclusion of the chapter recommends pursuing a simpler and more theoretically consistent design of participatory engineering that addresses more isolated objectives.
Article
This study of municipal e-participation in Norway, comprising local politicians as well as citizens, explores the impact of municipal size on online participation. First, the analyses show that the conventional predictors of offline participation also influence online participation, but the Internet encourages more activity among young people. Second, the same digital divides are generally found within the local political elite as among the citizens. Municipal size is, however, an exception. In the case of the local politicians, higher online participation rates are found in populous municipalities. This territorial digital divide is absent among the citizens. The findings indicate that the relatively high level of traditional participation in small municipalities also promote e-participation.
Article
This article examines the extent to which local politicians use digital channels in their contact with citizens and stakeholders, in comparison with traditional forms of communication (i.e. face-to-face and telephone contact) and which politicians are using digital channels the most. By analyzing a national survey of municipal politicians and mayors in Norway, findings show that e-mail has become an important channel of communication between local politicians and citizens, while e-debates have not. More surprisingly, the digital divides related to age and levels of education, which are reported in other studies, are less obvious in this study. Variations, however, in e-mail usage do exist in municipal hierarchies; Mayors, more than other politicians, use e-mail in work-related communication. The article also discusses whether digital channels are able to transfer the all important ‘local’ tacit knowledge from citizens to local politicians, and concludes that most politicians do not consider e-mail to be as capable at doing so as the traditional channels. The article indicates that the informality of e-mail lowers the threshold for contact, increasing the politicians’ knowledge about the experiences, problems and preferences of the citizens, thus broadening their pattern of communication and reaching new interest groups. E-mail, therefore, seems to increase contact and strengthen the ties between politicians and citizens. Politicians are aware, though, of the relationship between the electorate's lack of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) competence and usage of e-communication channels, and they stress that their use of digital channels is a supplement to traditional channels – not a replacement.
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Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborg University, 2006. Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references.
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