Supplementary Memorandum on Electronic
Democracy and Public Participation by Christine Bellamy, The Nottingham
Trent University
Public participation and electronic democracy
are both large topics, and the discussion on 11 January has served
to clarify the nature of the Committee's interests and concerns.
Perhaps, then, I may be permitted to offer some supplementary
comments.
1. The Committee may wish to give special
consideration to the special properties of networked technologies,
so far as political communication is concerned. As Dr Coleman's
evidence illustrates well, ICTs can do more than offer faster,
more direct ways of lobbying MPs and corresponding with governments.
They could also permit interactive communication and discussion—between
citizens themselves, as well as between citizens and their representatives.
2. These properties mean, for example, that
ICTs could be used to support online deliberation. Appropriately
conducted, online discussion groups can serve not only to encourage
the expression, but also the aggregation, of opinion: they offer
a means of organising opinion and developing understanding, by
laying bare the main strands of political debate. They also have
the advantage that, compared, say, with citizen juries or focus
groups, they can be more lightly mediated, and more openly and
freely constituted. Citizens can choose to participate, rather
than being selected for participation.
3. Given the wide range of e-democracy applications
listed in the Annex to my memorandum, and the patchiness of experience
in operationalising them, the Committee might wish to recommend
a programme of experimentation, based on the following features:
— incremental innovation with a variety
of electronically-enabled participation techniques;
— systematic, independent evaluation
of innovation, as it occurs;
— careful attention to the implications
for Members' working practices and resources; and
— active consultation with the Data
Protection Registrar and Central IT Unit, as appropriate, on issues
such as data protection, the authentication of participants' identities
and the protection of anonymity.
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