Transparent information and access to citizen participation on municipal websites

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Núria Simelio-Solà ◽  
Carme Ferré-Pavia ◽  
Francisco-Javier Herrero-Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Reliable Information ◽  
Collaborative Management ◽  
Autonomous Communities ◽  
Web Resources ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
The Government ◽  
Institutional Websites

This study analyses the information and tools for citizen participation on the institutional websites of local bodies to improve participation in the management of local resources in a context following the introduction of Spain’s Transparency Law. The method is based on applying 14 indicators to analyse the institutional websites of 605 municipalities that have over 10,000 residents, located in 9 autonomous communities of the Spanish state. The main results show how the institutional information offered on the websites of the councils analysed does not follow journalistic criteria in terms of accountability, meaning that citizens’ decisions regarding their local governments cannot be based on precise, reliable information. In this regard, in this study we have confirmed that council websites publish very little information on the activity of the opposition or on the plenary sessions, debates and agreements, but do publish information on the activity of the government. Furthermore, they do not make use of web resources for citizen participation, which impedes the transparent, collaborative management of political processes between leaders and citizens. Nonetheless, the results show how political and technical managers are not averse to change if they have access to guidance and incentives to improve the management of information and participation on municipal websites.

Trolls Just Want To Have Fun

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shefali Virkar
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
The Body ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Government

Over the last two decades, public confidence and trust in Government has declined visibly in several Western liberal democracies owing to a distinct lack of opportunities for citizen participation in political processes; and has instead given way instead to disillusionment with current political institutions, actors, and practices. The rise of the Internet as a global communications medium and the advent of digital platforms has opened up huge opportunities and raised new challenges for public institutions and agencies, with digital technology creating new forms of community; empowering citizens and reforming existing power structures in a way that has rendered obsolete or inappropriate many of the tools and processes of traditional democratic politics. Through an analysis of the No. 10 Downing Street ePetitions Initiative based in the United Kingdom, this article seeks to engage with issues related to the innovative use of network technology by Government to involve citizens in policy processes within existing democratic frameworks in order to improve administration, to reform democratic processes, and to renew citizen trust in institutions of governance. In particular, the work seeks to examine whether the application of the new Information and Communication Technologies to participatory democracy in the Government 2.0 era would eventually lead to radical transformations in government functioning, policymaking, and the body politic, or merely to modest, unspectacular political reform and to the emergence of technology-based, obsessive-compulsive pathologies and Internet-based trolling behaviours amongst individuals in society.

Turns of Direct Democracy at the Local Level in Latvia

2022 ◽  
pp. 91-114
Author(s):  
Lilita Seimuskane ◽  
Maris Pukis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Government ◽  
Current Level ◽  
Study Participation ◽  
The Government

The chapter provides analysis of obstacles for the introduction of direct citizen participation in the decision-making process at the local self-governments in Latvia, as well as intents of national government to widen participative democracy by formalization of consultation mechanisms. Within the scope of this study, participation is seen as an interaction form of relationship between citizens and a local government. The highest form, according to Arnstein's gradation theory of a ladder of citizen participation, refers to the participation degree called partnership, delegated power, and is described by Teorell as a citizen voice in the government. Situation and perspective of local government referendums are analysed. Consultation is implemented at the level by involving the residents in the work of local government commissions and implementing public deliberations. Administrative territorial reform, performed by 2021 elections, will decrease the number of local governments to a third of their current level.

scholarly journals Predictors, Determinant Groups, and Participatory Budgeting

2021 ◽  
pp. 186-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Klun ◽  
Jože Benčina
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Participatory Budgeting ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Finance Management ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Recent Developments

Recent developments in local public finance management in Slovenia indicate the local governments’ growing interest in introducing participatory budgeting as a decision-making tool, wherein part of local resources are used with citizen participation. Usually, the literature on participation budgeting analyses its effects, but our main research objective was to analyze the possible determinants influencing its implementation. The influence of political factors, sociodemographic factors, economic factors, and the capability of municipalities are examined here using binary logistic regression to predict a dichotomous dependent variable from a set of predictor variables. In binary logistic regression, predictable variables are the probability of one category being chosen. In this case, the authors calculated the probability that a municipality, described by selected prediction variables, would implement a participatory budget. The results of the analysis suggest six indicators that impact the probability of participatory budgeting adoption, proving the influence of four determinants on the decision to adopt such a measure.

Trolls Just Want To Have Fun

2015 ◽  
pp. 1172-1206
Author(s):  
Shefali Virkar
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Government

Over the last two decades, public confidence and trust in Government has declined visibly in several Western liberal democracies owing to a distinct lack of opportunities for citizen participation in political processes; and has instead given way instead to disillusionment with current political institutions, actors, and practices. The rise of the Internet as a global communications medium and the advent of digital platforms has opened up huge opportunities and raised new challenges for public institutions and agencies, with digital technology creating new forms of community; empowering citizens and reforming existing power structures in a way that has rendered obsolete or inappropriate many of the tools and processes of traditional democratic politics. Through an analysis of the No. 10 Downing Street ePetitions Initiative based in the United Kingdom, this article seeks to engage with issues related to the innovative use of network technology by Government to involve citizens in policy processes within existing democratic frameworks in order to improve administration, to reform democratic processes, and to renew citizen trust in institutions of governance. In particular, the work seeks to examine whether the application of the new Information and Communication Technologies to participatory democracy in the Government 2.0 era would eventually lead to radical transformations in government functioning, policymaking, and the body politic, or merely to modest, unspectacular political reform and to the emergence of technology-based, obsessive-compulsive pathologies and Internet-based trolling behaviours amongst individuals in society.

scholarly journals Citizen Participation in Vietnam’s Local Government: Impact on Transparency and Accountability

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thai Thi Thanh Hoa ◽  
Jean-Claude Garcia-Zamor
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Living Standard ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Policy Window ◽  
The Government ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

Around the world, a growing crisis of legitimacy and complex problem solving characterize a sense of change in the state-citizen relationship. In Vietnam, the Doi Moi (renovation) process was carried out by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Government of Vietnam (GoV). Public institutions engaged at grassroots level by implementing a decree on “Regulation on Democracy Exercise” with the vision of a participatory society to improve the living standard of the Vietnamese people in general in order to enhance public service specifically. This article conceptualizes the concepts of Citizen Participation, Transparency, and Accountability in Vietnam. In the contested debates of the link between citizen participation and the two governance aspects, transparency and accountability, the article realizes the importance of achieving the balance from both sides of practice, as well as strengthen institutions that can reduce inefficiency and have real effectiveness. The fact that Vietnam just embarked on experimenting with policy initiatives encourages stronger citizen participation. Importantly, citizens participate in a number of elections for their delegates to local and national legislatures. One specific characteristic of public participation in Vietnam is that citizens somewhat are limited in participation by the nomination procedures and restriction in institutions. The article as a brief literature review on citizen participation and establishes the linkages between these three concepts. It reviews policy mechanisms for citizen participation and central-local power relationship. It stresses two main findings after performing sufficient empirical evidences. First, it argues that citizen participation can be an engine of good governance in local public institutions in Vietnam. Once policy window provides the population some space for their participation, it assures a widening scale of an efficient governing system. It founds that transparency and accountability of local governments are two outcomes of citizen participation.

Environmental Governance in China: State Control to Crisis Management

Daedalus ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Economy
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Management ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Management Style ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Emerging Nations ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Rapid Economic Growth ◽  
The Government

After three decades of rapid economic growth, environmental degradation is now one of the most significant issues facing the Chinese government. The country's air, water, and land are all heavily polluted. Despite a number of environmental protection initiatives, both at the national and local levels, China ranks poorly when compared with other emerging nations. Formal government institutions have failed to address adequately the people's concerns. Beijing's system of decentralized authoritarianism lacks the political processes and incentives needed to implement meaningful national reform and to encourage local governments and polluting factories to enforce laws and regulations. The Chinese government now faces growing pressure from civil society, as NGOs, Internet activism, and protests compel the government to proactively address environmental issues. Beijing would do well to increase engagement between the government and its citizens, rather than relying on its current crisis management style of environmental governance.

scholarly journals Handling COVID-19 from a Collaborative Governance Perspective in Pekanbaru City

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Raja Muhammad Amin ◽  
Rury Febrina ◽  
Baskoro Wicaksono
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Collaborative Governance ◽  
Collaborative Management ◽  
Initial Increase ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Joint Decision ◽  
The Government ◽  
Role Of The Government ◽  
The City

Identical collaborative governance is used in government and must handle COVID-19 to create fast, precise, focused, integrated and synergistic steps between ministries/agencies, local governments, and other stakeholders. This research describes collaborative governance in efforts to deal with COVID-19 in Riau Province, especially Pekanbaru City, considering that the city recorded a relatively high initial increase in cases compared to other areas in Riau Province as well as the implementation of collaborative management. The research method is qualitative, with the type of research used is the exploratory type and literature study. This article analyses several aspects of collaborative governance, namely the initial role of the government, non-state actors, joint decision making, formal organizing, gaining consensus, and the existence of problems to collaborate both on public policies and services.

Civil society organizations in China: Navigating the local government for more inclusive environmental governance

2020 ◽  
pp. 0920203X2090811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Gao ◽  
Jessica Teets
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
The Government

This article examines how civil society organizations navigate local government to secure more inclusive environmental governance. Based on an in-depth case study of water governance in Zhejiang Province between 2012 and 2018, we find that Green Zhejiang, a civil society organization, exercised informal power to hold the local government accountable based on two strategies: mobilizing citizens to collect information on water pollution and strategically leveraging the authority of provincial government to find citizen-focused solutions. Most existing studies foreground one stage of the policy process – advocacy in the agenda-setting phase, policy entrepreneurship during the design phase, or monitoring during the implementation phase; however, we examine strategies of civil society organizations throughout this policy lifecycle. With this approach, we are able to analyse the strategic interactions between different levels of the government and civil society organizations and locate the positive outcomes and limits under the current governance system. Despite policy successes, Green Zhejiang still acts informally, which limits long-term effectiveness. However, incorporating citizens into public administration in a meaningful way requires sharing policymaking power formally, and thus far, local governments are only willing to share power in an ad hoc and informal way. More institutionalized citizen participation is necessary to develop innovative solutions to the severe environmental degradation in China.

Harmonisasi terhadap Peraturan Daerah No. 14 Tahun 2006 tentang Pengelolaan Pelestarian Kawasan Konservasi Laut Daerah dalam Perlindungan Pulau Pariwisata Kabupaten Indramayu

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
Saiful Kholik ◽  
Imas Khaeriyah
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Marine Conservation ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Inconsistency Regional Regulation No.14 of 2006 about marine conservation area of the island of Biawak, Gososng, which Cendekian provides protection but in fact failed to provide protection as evidenced by dredging island sandbar and cendekian conducted PT.Pertamina UP VI Balongan INDRAMAYU. The problem in this research How Formulation Policy Act No. 10 Year 2009 on the Indonesian Tourism with the Indramayu Regional Regulation No. 14 of 2006 regarding marine conservation area of the island of Biawak, Gososng, Cendekian And How Harmonization Act No. 10 of 2009 with the Indramayu Regional Regulation No. 14 of 2006 regarding formulation Act No. 10 Year 2009 on the Indonesian Tourism with the Indramayu Regional Regulation No. 14 of 2006 about marine conservation area of the island of Biawak, Gososng, Cendekian, the purpose of this research to understand and analyze the extent to which policy The findings of the community or field of law local governments about the environmental damage done by companies or individuals are not equal accordance with regional regulations in force, nor the Law in force so that the function of law in society indramayu not fit the mandate to establish a change and justice based Formulation public corporate criminal liability.Inskonsitensi happens to local regulation No.14 of 2006 makes no harmonized with the regulations of each other so that the impact of this inskonsistensi makes the sector particularly environmental law enforcement get uncertainties that result in coastal communities Indramayau.Conclusion Harmonization of regulations of the center and regions delivering the policy formulation of the rule of law area to comply with the regulations above in order to avoid inconsistency, the occurrence of this inconsistency resulted in the rule of law and justice for the indramayu, suggestion that the government should was nearly revise regulations related area, especially the government must dare to take action to give effect to the perpetrator deterrent effect rule-based running as well as possible.

JUSTICE AND SOCIAL CHANGE FOR INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN INDONESIA AND ASEAN FOR DISABLED PERSONS (STUDY ON PEOPLE AFFECTED BY LEPROSY)

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Nuah Perdamenta Tarigan ◽  
Christian Siregar ◽  
Simon Mangatur Tampubolon
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Central Java ◽  
The People ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Right

Justice that has not existed and is apparent among the disabilities in Indonesia is very large and spread in the archipelago is very large, making the issue of equality is a very important thing especially with the publication of the Disability Act No. 8 of 2016 at the beginning of that year. Only a few provinces that understand properly and well on open and potential issues and issues will affect other areas including the increasingly growing number of elderly people in Indonesia due to the increasing welfare of the people. The government of DKI Jakarta, including the most concerned with disability, from the beginning has set a bold step to defend things related to disability, including local governments in Solo, Bali, Makassar and several other areas. Leprosy belonging to the disability community has a very tough marginalization, the disability that arises from leprosy quite a lot, reaches ten percent more and covers the poor areas of Indonesia, such as Nusa Tenggara Timur, Papua, South Sulawesi Provinces and even East Java and West Java and Central Java Provinces. If we compare again with the ASEAN countries we also do not miss the moment in ratifying the CRPD (Convention of Rights for People with Disability) into the Law of Disability No. 8 of 2016 which, although already published but still get rejections in some sections because do not provide proper empowerment and rights equality. The struggle is long and must be continued to build equal rights in all areas, not only health and welfare but also in the right of the right to receive continuous inclusive education.

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