From E-Government to Online Deliberative Democracy
Flew T1*, Young G2*
1. Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Queensland,
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
2. The National Forum, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, Australia
While many have highlighted the transformative potential of e-government
for democracy and citizenship, the score card has remained decidedly mixed,
both in terms of government take-up and the initiatives pursued. Important
questions remain about the scalability of such initiatives: can they work
at national or even transnational levels, or are they best applied locally,
where there is greater congruence between local communities and the relevant
policy domain? There is also the question of whether agencies of government
can ever be the most suitably equipped to gauge the views of citizens
on key policy issues.
This paper will explore three issues. First, it will consider the scope
for new forms of paticipatory or deliberative democracy in an age of widespread
(although far from universal) Internet access. Second, it will consider
the potential for online media to act as conduits for new forms of citizen
engagement with the policy process. Third, it will consider the role of
non-government organizations (NGOs) as trusted third parties able to engage
in what Steven Clift terms the necessary ‘public net-work’
required to generate new forms of public conversation between governments
and citizens. These issues will be considered in the context of Australian
case studies around health, education and sustainability policies.
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