E-Participation in Local Government Decision Making

2010 ◽  
pp. 195-210
Author(s):  
Peter Demediuk ◽  
Rolf Solli
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Technology Choice ◽  
Community Capacity Building ◽  
Online Technologies ◽  
Government Decision

Modern society will only reach its potential when citizens individually and collectively are able to use their knowledge and capabilities to shape their lives and communities. Citizen participation in government decision making that uses online technologies is one way of leveraging this capacity, and has been termed e-participation. Case studies of a Swedish and an Australian local government examine how e-participation fits into initiatives to increase community involvement in decision making. Interactive chat sessions between stakeholders can facilitate debate. Information portals can provide supporting information in interesting and accessible ways. E-voting can enable greater input and influence by a wider number of citizens. But ultimately the technology choice and e-participation implementation must be driven by the objectives of the engagement exercise, and these can range from better decisions to community capacity building and issues of trust and legitimacy.

E-Participation

2010 ◽  
pp. 258-270
Author(s):  
Peter Demediuk ◽  
Rolf Solli
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Information Communication Technologies ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Government Decision ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Inclusive Processes ◽  
Electronic Technologies

Citizen participation in government decision making through online and other electronic technologies has been termed e-participation, and has the potential to facilitate better decisions, better citizens, and better government. The chapter examines the extent to which progressive e-participation practice interacts with local government decision making and contributes to the espoused benefits of citizen participation. The international case studies indicate that e-participation can inform the intelligence, design, and choice phases of decision making and transform the way future local government decisions are made by formalising new inclusive processes and building community capabilities and motivation. E-participation can positively contribute to community capabilities, political relevance, better problem identification, and more relevant solutions, but the initiatives studied were costly and resource intensive. These e-participation initiatives provide robust examples of utilizing progressive information communication technologies because of the novel ways in which technology is applied, and due to the significant affect on information flows and decision making.

scholarly journals Local government decision-making - Local government decision-making in New Zealand: An interpretivist inquiry into influences and citizen preferences related to large capital investments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Haydn Read
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Capital Investments ◽  
Government Decision ◽  
Government Sector ◽  
Citizen Preferences ◽  
The Right ◽  
Near Future

<p>Citizens’ active participation in local government affairs today is low, and no measurable signs indicate any improvement. To the contrary, evidence suggests citizen participation is deteriorating. Considerable debate has been involved in trying to establish whether its cause is citizenship deficits or democracy deficits. Alternatively, does another, yet-to-be-discovered driver explain the disconnection between local government and its citizens?  Of greatest concern is that, in the near future, significant investment decisions and the outcomes they provide are likely to set the tone for our communities for the next 100 years or more. In this context, the diminishing participation may beget further disconnection. Furthermore, if citizens are not really in a position to make an informed decision, who is? Can we be sure those decision-makers are making the right decisions? Has the intent behind our participatory or deliberative democracy in the local government sector established itself in practice, as we might expect?  Compounding this challenge is the complexity of the decision-making environment, which only enhances the gap between how citizens sense they are able to participate in these important long-term decisions and the political environments that struggle to find enduring solutions in which citizen preferences are weighted in a way that reflects community expectations. While the literature to date has covered citizenship and democracy deficits in some detail, understanding is more limited of the bureaucratic and representative deficits that are struggling with similar, if not identical issues.  This research examines the concept and practice of local government decision-making. Its focus is on the influences that elected members weight in this process, and specifically the weight they give to citizen preferences in making their decisions. Moreover, if these preferences are not being given due weight, what are the implications for our deliberative democracy? And do the findings have any implications for how our communities ought to view the current decision-making environment?</p>

Excluded communities and participatory land-use planning: experience from informal Roma settlements in Serbia

2021 ◽  
pp. 095624782110240
Author(s):  
Zlata Vuksanović-Macura ◽  
Igor Miščević
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Participatory Approach ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Active Involvement

Citizen participation in the planning and decision-making process in the European post-socialist context is much debated. Still, the involvement of excluded communities in the urban planning process remains understudied. This paper presents and discusses the application of an innovative participatory approach designed to ensure active involvement of an excluded ethnic minority, the Roma community, in the process of formulating and adopting land-use plans for informal settlements in Serbia. By analysing the development of land-use plans in 11 municipalities, we observe that the applied participatory approach enhanced the inhabitants’ active participation and helped build consensus on the planned solution between the key actors. Findings also suggested that further work with citizens, capacity building of planners and administration, and secured financial mechanisms are needed to move citizen participation in urban planning beyond the limited statutory requirements.

Sustainable Parking Planning for Smart Growth of Metropolitan Cities

2018 ◽  
pp. 117-136
Author(s):  
Ozge Yalciner Ercoskun ◽  
Ebru Vesile Ocalir Akunal
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Smart Growth ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Government Decision ◽  
Metropolitan Cities ◽  
Conventional Paradigm

This chapter identifies main problems of parking planning in demand-oriented conventional paradigm. Parking planning principles and cost-effective programs in supply-oriented sustainable paradigm are presented in the chapter listing many economic, social and environmental benefits. The chapter describes various parking strategies for developing a sustainable parking plan for smart growth of metropolitan cities, including cases of Istanbul and Vienna. A critical perspective is drawn for the parking planning policies for these city cases. Parking is recognized as an important factor influencing accessibility. Parking planning, parking policies and pricing play a critical role in local government decision making.

Sustainable Parking Planning for Smart Growth of Metropolitan Cities

2018 ◽  
pp. 301-320
Author(s):  
Ozge Yalciner Ercoskun ◽  
Ebru Vesile Ocalir Akunal
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Smart Growth ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Government Decision ◽  
Metropolitan Cities ◽  
Conventional Paradigm

This chapter identifies main problems of parking planning in demand-oriented conventional paradigm. Parking planning principles and cost-effective programs in supply-oriented sustainable paradigm are presented in the chapter listing many economic, social and environmental benefits. The chapter describes various parking strategies for developing a sustainable parking plan for smart growth of metropolitan cities, including cases of Istanbul and Vienna. A critical perspective is drawn for the parking planning policies for these city cases. Parking is recognized as an important factor influencing accessibility. Parking planning, parking policies and pricing play a critical role in local government decision making.

Current Features and Developments of Local Governance in Finland

2016 ◽  
pp. 304-327
Author(s):  
Hanna Vakkala ◽  
Jaana Leinonen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Process Efficiency ◽  
Structural Reforms ◽  
Local Democracy

This chapter discusses local governance renewals and the recent development of local democracy in Finland. Due to profound structural reforms, the role of municipalities is changing, which is challenging current local government processes, from management to citizen participation. Nordic local self-government is considered strong, despite of tightening state steering. Ruling reform politics and the increasing amount of service tasks do not fit the idea of active local governance with sufficient latitude for decision-making. To increase process efficiency, electronic services and governance have been developed nationally and locally, and solutions of eDemocracy have been launched to support participation. Developing participative, deliberative democracy during deep renewals creates opportunities but also requires investments, which create and increase variation between municipalities. From the point of view of local democracy, it becomes interesting how strong municipal self-governance and local governance renewals meet and how the role and status of municipalities are changing.

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