e-Participation in the U.S. Context

Vienna.
The next session at EDEM 2009 starts with Michael Milakovich, who returns us to that question of citizen participation in e-democratic environments. So far, the overall lesson is probably that 'we've built it,but they haven't come yet' - and yet, in the US, online media were certainly used very effectively to help win an online election in the 2008 presidential elections, while the classic citizen participation model - the town hall meetings - are now being used and abused for partisan agitation.

This is an issue not least of digital democratic literacy; the use of social media and other electronic technologies remains in its infancy. There are issues with competing communication systems (used differently across different generations, but not neatly so), and the respective electoral structures also play a role in what e-democracy frameworks are appropriate (e-participation may loook differently in a direct democratic system than in the US electoral college framework, for example). Additionally, there are public concerns about the equation of politics with administration, and questions about the distribution of citizen and government responsibilities.

Clearly, we've now entered the information age, and we are not going to turn back again. Citizens seek more information from both private and public organisations, there is a greater demand for information and participation, and there are greater expectations for information availability, transparency, and accountability. Participatory democracy implies a more activist citizenry that is directly involved in the processes of governmental decision making; such participation is encouraged and expected; and we see (e.g. in the context of the Obama contain) the emergence of an online polisphere (as a partial subset / extension of the blogosphere) - a space devoted to political activities such as blogging and partisan discussion to enhance political participation.

Across the different communication systems now available, though, it remains difficult to encourage citizens to participate in political deliberation (and here especially those on the wrong side of the various digital divides, of course). Mass media traditionally substituted for direct participation and assumed greater roles in articulating and defining the public opinion upon which political decisions were based.

In the US, the political structure is especially complicated, with some 87,000 independent governments at various levels of politics. e-Government initiatives have been instituted largely in major metropolitan areas and at the federal level; this is further complicated also by the fact that electoral systems are controlled by the states, leading to substantial variation and confusion - and to extreme examples like the stolen Bush vs. Gore election in the year 2000.

e-Elections are already a reality in the US, and this trend is going to continue. The 10 million new voters in the 2008 were younger and more tech-oriented, and responded to individualised, personalised e-campaigns - there was a return to a participation rate of nearly 60%, up from the much lower levels in previous elections. Citizens are very slowly starting to be seen as co-producers of government services, in line with the philosophy of Web 2.0, and such an active role is essential to provide improved customer services and empower local communities to act in their own interests.

Participation may help in information sharing, improve public decision and implementation processes, enhance public acceptance of goverment activities, alter patterns of political power, protect individual privacy and minority rights, and delay or avoid problematic public policy decisions. Of course there will be problems in emplementing such e-participation systems, but eventually it will happen.

Against this backdrop, then, Obama's win may have been a result ot Bushophobia just as much as Obamamania, and while the campaign successfully utilised social media technologies, this is no guarantee that Obama's administration will continue to use these technologies just as successfully while in office. It's important to note that Obama's victory was not a landslide by amy means, too.

The Democrats managed to attract a great deal of funding for their candidate, but next time around, the Republicans might be just as successful in doing so - if so, other than the sums involved, what has really changed? Will the increased level of participation during the campaign lead to greater e-participation throughout the continuing legislative process? It's important not to overstate the extent of the paradigm shift which some say did take place here - the short-term test will come in the 2010 house elections, and the ultimate test is in whether Obama will be able to achieve what he has promised to achieve.

The challenge for citizens here are whether they will be better able to inform themselves about public issues and associated lawmaking processes. Improved citizen participation may be regarded as an idealistic, unrealistic goal, and it threatens established power relations, which leads to substantial rear-guar battles. Challenges for government are to increase the number and security of inter- and intra-governmental communication channels, to develop clear information strategies on a variety of issues, and to manage citizen consultation processes.

So, the Net played a significant role in promoting citizen participation in the last election, but causal linkages between fund raising, party identification, social networking and voter turnouts have still to be established. More work is to be done here.

Technorati : EDEM 2009, Obama, USA, e-democracy, election, participation, politics
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