ICTs as Participatory Vehicles

2005 ◽  
pp. 1372-1378
Author(s):  
Marc Holzer ◽  
Richard Schwester
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Elected Representatives

While citizen participation is central to democratic governance, there is a noticeable disconnect between elected representatives and the citizenry, as evidenced by voter apathy, decreased levels of civic participation, and widespread cynicism toward political institutions (Hudson, 2001; Putnam, 2000; Berman, 1997). Citizen participation advocates, however, are optimistic that information and communications technologies (ICTs) will facilitate direct interactions between citizens and government, thereby altering the dynamics of the policy-making process by affording the citizenry a stronger voice. This article examines the integration of ICTs and digital democratic applications in the context of citizen participation in government.

scholarly journals Tools for transferring lay knowledge into local municipal public policy in Slovak local municipalities

Human Affairs ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matúš Čupka ◽  
Katarína Števove
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Public Policy Making ◽  
Lay Knowledge ◽  
Local Municipalities ◽  
Policy Making Process

AbstractCitizen participation can be considered a key part of public policy making and is also one of the reasons for the growing expert interest in this issue. This article focuses on specific knowledge, socalled “lay knowledge”, which can be identified as knowledge gained from “non experts” through civic participation. The article establishes when and how this type of knowledge enters the policy-making process via specific selected tools and provides practical examples from local and municipal public policy.

A Case Study of Public Servants Engaged in E-Consultation in Australia

2011 ◽  
pp. 759-772
Author(s):  
Lucas Walsh
Keyword(s):  
The Internet ◽  
Local Form ◽  
Political Democracy ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Elected Representatives

This article examines some of the challenges faced by local government during the development and implementation of a relatively new area of e-democratic innovation in Australia: e-consultation. E-consultation is seen as a valuable way through which a two-way relationship can be developed and enhanced between citizens and elected representatives. It involves the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs), such as the Internet, to extend and/or enhance political democracy through access to information, and to facilitate participation in democratic communities, processes, and institutions. Drawing on a case study of the Darebin eForum in Victoria, Australia, this article focuses on the role of public servants as moderators of this local form of e-consultation. The discussion has three parts: online policy consultation is defined within the context of e-democracy; some of the ways that e-consultation challenges the roles of the public service, elected representatives, and citizens are outlined; and the author then argues for an e-consultation strategy that is situated within a continuum of citizen engagement that is ongoing, deliberative, educative, and inclusive.

Bureaucracy, Political Parties, and Political Development

1973 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-607
Author(s):  
Gerald A. Heeger
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Policy Making Process

The growing role of governmental bureaucracy has been one of the most noted and discussed characteristics of developing political systems. The phenomenon of bureaucratic intervention in politics, already discernible in the 1950's in many of these states, has, so it seems, become the rule rather than the exception in the years that have followed. Despite the prevalence of the politicized bureaucracy, however, and the amount of discussion engendered by the phenomenon, die sources of bureaucratic growth and dominance in the developing states remain obscure. Most analysts emphasize the superior organization of the bureaucracy and argue that this organization, reinforced by die transfer of techniques from abroad and uncontested because of weak indigenous political institutions, provides much of the explanation for the aggrandizement of the bureaucracy in die policy-making process.

Public Opinion, Domestic Structure, and Foreign Policy in Liberal Democracies

1991 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Risse-Kappen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
The Impact

The paper discusses the role of public opinion in the foreign policy-making process of liberal democracies. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, public opinion matters. However, the impact of public opinion is determined not so much by the specific issues involved or by the particular pattern of public attitudes as by the domestic structure and the coalition-building processes among the elites in the respective country. The paper analyzes the public impact on the foreign policy-making process in four liberal democracies with distinct domestic structures: the United States, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Japan. Under the same international conditions and despite similar patterns of public attitudes, variances in foreign policy outcomes nevertheless occur; these have to be explained by differences in political institutions, policy networks, and societal structures. Thus, the four countries responded differently to Soviet policies during the 1980s despite more or less comparable trends in mass public opinion.

scholarly journals Citizen Participation in the Formulation of Public Policy in Mombasa County, Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 90-107
Author(s):  
Stephen Kiruku Kamau ◽  
Daniel Mange Mbirithi
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
County Government ◽  
Public Policy Making ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Main Factors

To assist the government in determining its mandate, citizens should be involved as they best know their needs. The significance of citizen engagement in the process of policy formulation is rooted in among others, the fact that public policy outputs and effects affect those to whom the policy is targeted at. This study aimed to determine the effect of public participation in the public policy making process in Mombasa County, Kenya. The objectives of the research were; to establish the modes of citizen participation used in public policy making process in Mombasa County, Kenya; to determine the main factors that influence citizen participation in public policy making process; to establish the implication of citizen participation in public policy making process and to determine the extent of citizen/ public participation in public policy making process. The study was guided by Good Governance Theory.  The study utilized descriptive survey research design. The study targeted 560 County government and civil society representatives including women leaders, youth leaders and people living with disabilities representatives. The study used Yamane formulae to determine the sample size of 233 respondents. Purposive sampling was employed to select respondents. Data were collected through primary sources which include questionnaire, and interview schedule; while the secondary data were collected from the documentary sources. Data analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially, and presented through frequency tables, pie chart and bar graphs. Qualitative data were analyzed by themes and presented through narration and pros forms. The findings of the study established that the main factors that affect citizen participation in formulation of public policy include direct benefits (financial, material), tangible or non-tangible to long or short term, among others. Other factors such as culture, history, government policy and social, political and economic structures influence community participation. Also, the findings of the study revealed that citizens are well acquainted with public policy processes and there is effective county government guidelines and clear standards enhance public policy making processes. The study findings revealed that involvement in policy formulation is positively related to performance. Also, consultation enables easy supervision of work. The research also concluded that education is essential for both parties who are participating towards high quality public policy formulation as it would certainly reduce unnecessary manipulation and the problem brought on by lack of knowledge, accountability and transparency and understanding of each party’s requirements. The study recommends that County Government of Mombasa should establish a participatory framework that allows citizens to monitor and evaluate development outcomes in the counties to ensure better decision making and implementation for subsequent projects and plans.

Dezintegracja, konsolidacja czy status quo? Kryzys modernizacji w Unii Europejskiej a poszukiwanie nowego paradygmatu integracji

2015 ◽  
pp. 26-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamil Ławniczak
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Eu Governance ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
The Eu

“Taking ideas seriously” means not only to consider their causal and constitutive role in the study of social phenomena, but also to analyse how and why certain ideas gain or lose prominence within political institutions and discourses. One approach to these issues builds upon the notion of policy paradigms, which influence the results of policy-making process by shaping the political actors’ understanding of problems that need to be solved and limiting available policy options. This article attempts to show how the ability to modernise the EU governance within the paradigm of European integration heading towards “an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe” has been called into question by the crisis which began in 2008. Two potential new paradigms of integration are considered: first one suggests controlled disintegration and differentiation of EU structures, second one proposes a reinterpretation of federalism as a way to reconsolidate the Union.

Institutions and Arguments: Simulating the US Policy-Making Process

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Lucy Britt ◽  
Ryan J. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Knowledge Retention ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Natural Gas Pipeline ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
The Us ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Us Government

ABSTRACT In US government courses, simulations have been shown to increase students’ engagement and knowledge retention. We present an original simulation that focuses on both the interactions between political institutions that contribute to policy making and the normative ideas underlying politics. By exploring a civil rights or liberties policy area, students learn about the importance of both political institutions and foundational political ideas such as liberty and equality. Students role-play members of Congress, lobbyists for a pro- or anti-natural gas pipeline group, and Supreme Court justices. Although the goal of simulations in many US government courses is to teach students about the ways that institutions shape policy, this is the first (to our knowledge) that also integrates normative reflection on the ideas behind political arguments. Assessment indicates that the simulation was effective in increasing students’ knowledge of and/or interest in American political institutions and eminent domain.

scholarly journals Public Participation in the Policy Making Process: An Evaluation of Makueni County, Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-49
Author(s):  
Eunice M’mbone Nyong’a ◽  
Paul M Gachanja
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Simple Random Sampling ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
County Government ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Promotional Strategies

The purpose of the study was to evaluate public participation in the policy making process in Makueni County. This was so because, despite the Makueni County Government generally accepted framework for public participation, there is limited information on how that framework has impacted or been used in the policy making process. Specifically, the study sought to assess the extent of awareness by the residents of Makueni of their democratic right and opportunities to participate in the policy making process; analyzed the levels of citizens involvement in policy making processes in Makueni County; established the perception towards public participation in policy making process by residents and management in Makueni County; and determined the barriers to public participation in policy making process by residents and management in Makueni County. The study was anchored on Stakeholder Theory, Arnstein’s Ladder and the Multi Streams Model.  The study was hinged on descriptive survey research design and targeted the 884,527 residents of Makueni and the 217 County Public service Departmental staff in Makueni County. Stratified sampling was used to delineate 117 staff in terms of their positions, whether management or operations excluding the subordinate staff. Simple random sampling was used to get 396 residents. Focus Group Discussions and questionnaires were the primary data collection instruments. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in form of percentages and frequencies. Linear regression model analysis was also used to analyze data. The results established that the residents were unaware of their democratic right and opportunities for participation in policy making process in Makueni County. There were also low levels of citizens’ involvement in policy making processes in Makueni County. Further, perception about public participation by residents was both negative for those who felt let down by the county management and positive for those who mainly felt hopeful that despite those challenges, things improve for the better in terms of public participation in policy making process in Makueni County. Additionally, financial, physical resource, human resource and technological barriers were identified as having considerable negative impact on citizen participation in policy making process. The study thus recommends that Makueni County management should embark on renewed promotional strategies to create awareness among citizens of their democratic right and opportunities for participation in policy making process in Makueni County. Further, the citizens themselves should be proactive and employ necessary mechanisms of obtaining information from the county government and demand participation. The Makueni County management should on the other hand, formulate a framework that stipulates the measures to be applied towards fully involving the citizens. The Makueni County management should also be more transparent and accountable in order to help build a positive perception about public participation amongst the residents. Moreover, the Makueni County management should engage in robust resource mobilization of finances, physical, human and technological resources that advance public participation in policy making process. On a policy level, the County Assembly should amend existing public participation legislation to make it more responsive to the needs of citizens. The executive should on their part robustly implement public participation processes going forward.

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