Local eDemocracy National Project
“Harnessing the power of new technology to encourage citizen participation in local decision making between election times.”
National Projects
22 National Projectsdelivering cost effective products, services and toolkits
building blocks of effective e-services tailored to citizens and to each council’s unique needs
81% of all local authorities involved in the programme
Sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Managed by local authorities for local authorities
Local eDemocracy National Project
Sponsor: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Scope: England
Phase 1: DevelopmentNovember 2003 - March 2005
Funding: £4 million
Phase 2: Productisation and disseminationApril 2005 – March 2006
Funding: £0.5 million
Governance: Project Board (including councillors)
Project management: Local authorities
Democratic challenges
Decline in turn out in local and national elections
Fall in trust and reputation of politicians
But citizens are interested in issues and in their communities…
Citizen engagement
OECD classification of citizen engagement
Informationone way relationship
Consultationtwo way relationship
controlled by government
citizens provide feedback
Active Participationpartnership
citizens actively engaged in policy-making
Enhancing democracy
A project enhances democracy if it:
supports representative democracy
engages citizens
makes decision-making transparent
manages conflict as well as consensus
improves political equality
increases community control
Drivers for eDemocracy
Impact of the internet11.7m citizens online in the UK
90% of under 25s use the internet
80% of under 25s use computer games
- Government policy - e-Government targets for December 2005• Local Vision: Community leadership & engagement
Harnessing the power of new technology
“Why didn’t we think of that before?”
rather than
“How on earth do we do that?”
•Research into councillors’ website needs•Research report•Strategy guide
National Project pilots and research
Communities
•Baseline Survey•Funding Database•Case Study Materials•Partnership working•Self Assessment /Diagnostic toolkit
CouncilsCouncillors•Research Report•E-dem toolkit
•Policy making processes
•Democratic pupils •Community Groups•Issues forum•eDemocracy games
•iCan•E-Dem icons•Websites for 50+ and Youth
•Microdemocracy•Citizen Panels•E-moderation•Online Surgeries
•Webcasting
•National Councillor Database
•Weblogging•Online Surgeries
eDemocracy games…
www.demgames.org
eDemocracy games benefits…
Interactive narrative
goals
rewards
problem solving
opportunity to win
Can be used in the school environment basis for further discussion/other activities
Councils can customise
Entertaining
Websites for specific age groups…
www.surrey50plus.org.ukwww.urcountyursay.net
ePetitioning…
Traditional petitioningexisting democratic process
well known, but popularity declined
can be hard to access paper petitions
difficult to track progress
ePetitioningpilots in Bristol and Kingston
developed by International Teledemocracy Centre (Napier)
creates a central space for petitioning information
people can start, join and comment on petitions online through the councils’ sites
Life of an ePetition…
Form / Email
Content checked
Petitioner contacted
Petition live on site
Petitioner promotes
People join and comment
Initiating Supporting Closing
Closed
Progress tracked
Benefits of ePetitions…
Modernisation of traditional democratic tool
Accessible fortime hungry people
people with a disability
Transparencyencourages others to join in
tracking
‘How to’ guidance and case studies now available
Napier University offers one-off licence fee and technical support
Weblogs for civic leadership & engagement…
www.readmyday.co.uk
Civic blogging…
Aims of civic blogging to educate on public policyto promote community organisationsto enhance citizens’ understanding of local governmentto praise employees, elected representatives, citizensto personalise - put a face on the faceless bureaucrat
Unique features of blogsauthoring – commitment to update regularlylinking – network potential commenting – dialogue potential
Advantages over websiteseasy to get started many products in the market, mainly free
eDem icons for accessible websites…
kiosk
webcastinglocal politics
politics
Issues forums…
Online deliberative tools
Connecting communities of place and interest
Supported by e-democracy.org US community organisation
chaired by Steven Clift
Open source platform
Very actively supported
Evaluation…
Expert Evaluation GroupProf Stephen Coleman (Oxford Internet Institute)
Prof Ann Macintosh (International Teledemocracy Centre, Napier University)
Dr Mansur Lalljee (Dept of Experimental Psychology, Oxford)
Single view of the benefits
Communities
•More responsive and welcoming of democratic input
•Better understood and easier to manage democratic processes
•More transparent, accountable and auditable
•Better able to engage with other agencies and partnerships
CouncilsCouncillors•More effective councillors
as managers of the council and representatives of wards
•More responsive to Councillor input
•Better governance of council business
•Better scrutiny function
•The public is more informed and better understands the democratic process
•More willing to initiate public engagement, campaigns
•Recognises value of engagement as citizens
•Better understandingof role
•Increased engagement
•Increased trust
•Higher turnout
•More responsive to public involvement
•Higher Profile
•Increased trust
•Better casework
•Better at community leadership
•Better ward representation
•More inclusive
•Better access (24/7)
Delivering local eDemocracy
Resources for local authorities
Products from pilots
Case studies
Funding database
Benefits analysis
Knowledge pool
Project toolkit – guidance based on PRINCE2
www.e_democracy.gov.uk