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11. International Agendas <- Back to categories
A New Agenda for e-Democracy: Oxford Internet Institute Symposium Paper
A New Agenda for e-Democracy provides position papers for 25 individuals and organisations who took part in a symposium on e-Democracy in Oxford on the 7th May 2004.
The 111 page document includes contributions from Richard Allan MP, Secretary of the UK Parliament e-Democracy Group; and reviews of initiatives and best practice from around the world.
Contract with the Future - A Vision on the Electronic Relationship between Government and Citizen
Contract with the future - A vision on the electronic relationship between government and citizen was a memorandum presented to the Lower Chamber of Dutch Parliament by the Minister for Urban Policy and the Integration of Ethnic Minorities, on the 19 May 2000.
The 186 page document provides a detailed discussion of the issues associated with electronic democracy, as well as the results of exploratory surveys.
Crossing Boundaries - Finding Our Digital Voice: Governing in the Information Age
Crossing Boundaries - Finding our Digital Voice: Governing in the Information Age is the final report and recommendations of the Canadian Government's Crossing Boundaries Political Advisory Committee, and is dated April 2003.
The Crossing Boundaries initiative explores the impact of information and communications technologies (ICTs) on government and democracy in Canada. Since 1997, it has engaged hundreds of elected and public officials from all three levels of government, members of the private and third sector, journalists and academics from across the country. Over the last 18 months, the project has focused on identifying the opportunities and issues around e-government and, in this final report, provides recommendations for responding to them.
Democracy in an Information Age
Technology has always been used to assert power, but electronic technologies have often been viewed more hopefully. This paper places the discussion about the democratising potential of information technology within the wider context of the role of technology in an information society. In particular, it asks how interactive technologies are situated in the emerging globalised system, with its increasing interdependencies. The linkages between levels of governance, or issues of scale, are increasingly important for global governance.
Digital Commons E-Democracy Pilot Executive Summary
The Digital Commons E-Democracy Pilot was prepared for the Department of Canadian Heritage (DCH) by the Centre for Collaborative Government (CCG).
The two have been working together to develop and test the concept of a Digital Commons: a place where Canadians can openly discuss, debate and share issues and experiences electronically in an open forum. CCG and the DCH recently implemented a pilot project that focused on the role of government and elected officials as participants in such a space. This paper discusses the pilot design.
E-Democracy and Public Participation: A Global Overview of Policy and Activity
E-democracy and public participation: a global overview of policy and activity is a research report commissioned by the Community Engagement Division of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Queensland, Australia, and published in June, 2003 by Professor John Gammack and Associate Professor Michelle Barker of the School of Management, Griffith University. The structure of the report is thematic, looking at instances of specific approaches for a shortlist of countries.
E-Democracy in Practice: Swedish Experiences of a New Political Tool
E-Democracy in Practice: Swedish Experiences of a New Political Tool is a 2001 paper from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions.
The aim of the15 page paper is to place various projects that have been conducted in Sweden into a recognisable context – from the political debate to the decision-making process and political follow-up.
Contents include:
The internet as an aid to democracy
The internet in the political debate
Influencing political drafting using the internet
Presenting motions on web sites
The internet increases the transparency of political decisions
Lack of consultation in connection with implementation
Political quality work
Democratic key questions
References
Evaluation of E-Petitioning Pilot Project
The Evaluation of E-Petitioning Pilot Project was prepared in August 2003 for the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Queensland, Australia.
The foremost finding was "In general, the evaluation found there is a high level of support in the community and amongst Members of Parliament for e-Petitioning and to remove this additional avenue for interaction with government could be seen as detrimental to the credibility of the community engagement agenda."
Neighbouring in Netville: How the Internet Supports Community and Social Capital in a Wired Suburb
Neighbouring in Netville, an academic paper which poses the following questions (according to its abstract):
What is the Internet doing to local community? Analysts have debated about whether the Internet is weakening community by leading people away from meaningful in-person contact; transforming community by creating new forms of community online; or enhancing community by adding a new means of connecting with existing relationships. They have been especially concerned that the globe-spanning capabilities of the Internet would limit local involvements. Survey and ethnographic data from a “wired suburb” near Toronto shows that high-speed, always-on access to the Internet, coupled with a local online discussion group, transforms and enhances neighboring. The Internet especially supports increased contact with weaker ties. In comparison to non-wired residents of the same suburb, more neighbors are known and chatted with, and they are more geographically dispersed around the suburb. Not only did the Internet support neighboring, it also facilitated discussion and mobilization around local issues.
Queensland's E-Democracy Leadership
In 2001, the Queensland government created The E-Democracy Unit that is a dedicated unit within the Department of Communities, Queensland, Australia. The role of the unit is to develop new and innovative ways for Queenslanders to effectively engage with the State Government and Parliament through the use of information and communication technologies such as webcasting, online consultation and online polling. Queensland recently updated their innovative E-Democracy Policy Framework that is endorsed at the highest level of state government. The e-democracy policy budget for 2004-05 is $0.79 million (AUD) to continue implementation and evaluation of the Government’s e-democracy agenda.
The Get Involved directory was created to help citizen's find out about and participate in decision-making. Internet broadcasts of Parliament commenced in April 2003, over 5,600 citizen's participated in e-polls with a follow up survey showing 95% of respondents believing the ePetitions service represented an additional opportunity to provide input to government decision-making. Over 1300 citizens subscribe to the "get involved" newsletter and authorities have benefited from tapping into a broader range of ideas from the community. The introduction of additional interactive elements such as online polls and discussion forums are being developed for implementation during 2005. Website.
Restoring Integrity: Queensland's Policy Document
A strong multi-party system is essential to democratic government. If faith in the internal workings of political parties is diminished, then the system is diminished. The participation of good people in political party activities strengthens the practice of democracy throughout the community. The Beattie Government’s Plan for Restoring Integrity aims to encourage people to be active locally. Cleaning up the processes of political parties by making them cleaner and accountable to their members will hopefully encourage more people to participate in the political life of the State.
Political parties have an important role. They bring discipline to the debate about ideas and the direction of society, and they allow for clear decisions about who is responsible for governing. This is one reason political parties receive public funds. Peter Beattie’s Plan will make sure that parties perform, or their access to public funds will be cut off. The Beattie Plan is about expanding democratic options and improving accountability.
Social Organization Through the Internet
Social Organization Through the Internet looks at the use of the internet in post 2001 Argentina. The paper explores the community use of ICT as a key aid to communication within democratic processes.
The Queensland Government's e-Democracy Agenda
The Queensland Government’s e-democracy agenda examines the implementation and development of the Queensland Government’s e-democracy agenda and initiatives. The initiatives are designed to test the use of the Internet in opening up our democratic processes and enhancing the community’s access to and participation in government’s decision making processes. The initiatives being trialled are:
- e-Petitions - the use of the Internet to sign and lodge petitions to the Queensland Parliament electronically;
- Internet Broadcast of Parliament - an audio broadcast of parliamentary proceedings via the Internet; and
- Online Community Consultation - a trial of community consultation on selected issues and policy matters via the Internet.
The paper discusses Queensland's experience of implementing and monitoring the current initiatives including the Get involved website project, as well as the developing policy agenda for e-democracy in the state, within the context of Queensland’s community engagement agenda.
The paper was prepared for the Australian Electronic Governance Conference held in Melbourne in 2004 by Michael Hogan and Natalie Cook of the Department of Communities, Queensland Government, and Dr Monika Henderson of M & P Henderson & Associates Pty Ltd.
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