scholarly journals Online citizen panels as an advance in research and consultation – A Review of pilot results

1970 ◽  
pp. 33-54
Author(s):  
Anne Sharp ◽  
Katherine Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Wide Audience ◽  
Recruitment Methods ◽  
Citizen Satisfaction ◽  
Panel Model ◽  
Online Panel ◽  
Government Decision

This paper details a new model for local government consultation and research. The model involves a local government partnering with a university to establish an online panel of citizens that is then used for consultations and research on a range of local government issues over time. The model was evaluated across an 18-month pilot involving three metropolitan councils in South Australia, each running its own panel. This paper details the rationale behind the panels, steps involved in their establishment, and what the most effective recruitment methods were to build panel membership. The model’s ability to recruit a wide audience of citizens as members, including those who would not normally participate in local government matters, is examined, as well as citizen expectations of the panel and satisfaction with being a member. Finally, key learnings from the pilot are identified. The pilot results demonstrate that such an online panel model can be used effectively in the local government context. The panels achieved citizen membership wider than that historically seen in local government consultation and research, and were sustainable in terms of continued participation and high levels of citizen satisfaction. Since the pilot, the project has grown to include seven councils and almost 2500 citizens. This is further evidence that this model offers a way forward for enhanced citizen participation in local government decision-making and policy development.

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.

scholarly journals Testing Citizen Satisfaction in the Local Government: Focusing on the Vision 2020 Umurenge Program in Rwanda

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-47
Author(s):  
Pierre Celestin Bimenyimana ◽  
Moon-Gi Jeong
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Vision 2020 ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Citizen Satisfaction ◽  
Expectancy Disconfirmation

Public administration scholars and practitioners need to understand how citizens form judgments regarding programs implemented at the local government level. The expectancy disconfirmation model of citizen satisfaction (EDM) focuses on comparing performance and expectations and was found important to understand that. This study tests the application of the expectancy disconfirmation model of citizen satisfaction in the local government of Rwanda focusing on the Vision 2020 Umurenge Program (VUP), which is a flagship of the social protection programs in Rwanda since 2008. It predicts that satisfaction with the program may increase the level of citizen participation. Data was collected from 379 VUP beneficiaries of the program in the Gicumbi district of Rwanda using an online survey questionnaire. We applied the Structural Equation Model and correlation analysis to analyze the data. The results found EDM applicable to how citizen forms a judgment about satisfaction with VUP where there is a positive relationship between expectations and actual performance of the program (positive disconfirmation) and positive influence of EDM with VUP to citizen participation. The study suggests that the governments should take into consideration the citizens’ feedback so as to meet their expectations and their satisfaction which may increase the level of citizen participation.

From Community Coalitions to City Hall: Shaping Policy in Chicago With Mayor Harold Washington

2021 ◽  
pp. 153851322110508
Author(s):  
Robert Giloth
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Social Equity ◽  
Community Coalitions ◽  
Police Violence ◽  
Racial Wealth Gap ◽  
City Hall ◽  
Electoral Campaign ◽  
Participatory Policy

Today’s cities are seeking more social equity—a response in part to police violence, pandemic disparities, and the racial wealth gap. Activists, planners, and local government reformers are looking for bold examples of equity planning—single initiatives and multi-faceted equity plans. The mayoral administration of Harold Washington in Chicago (1983–1987) shows how a grassroots electoral campaign combined with participatory policy development produced the Chicago Works Together (CWT) Development Plan—that promoted jobs, neighborhoods, and citizen participation. This article recounts the development of CWT and examines the impacts of CWT for Chicago and equity planning.

scholarly journals Testing Citizen Satisfaction in the Local Government: Focusing on the Vision 2020 Umurenge Program in Rwanda

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-48
Author(s):  
Pierre Celestin Bimenyimana ◽  
Moon-Gi Jeong
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Vision 2020 ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Citizen Satisfaction ◽  
Expectancy Disconfirmation

It is very important for public administration scholars and practitioners to understand how citizens form judgments regarding programs implemented at the local government level. The expectancy disconfirmation model of citizen satisfaction (EDM) focuses on comparing performance and expectations and was found important to understand that. This study tests the application of the expectancy disconfirmation model of citizen satisfaction in the local government of Rwanda focusing on the Vision 2020 Umurenge Program (VUP), which is a flagship of the social protection programs in Rwanda since 2008. It predicts that satisfaction with the program may increase the level of citizen participation. Data was collected from 379 VUP beneficiaries of the program in the Gicumbi district of Rwanda using an online survey questionnaire. We applied the Structural Equation Model and correlation analysis to analyze the data. The results found EDM applicable to how citizen forms judgment about satisfaction with VUP where there is a positive relationship between expectations and actual performance of the program (positive disconfirmation) and a positive influence of EDM with VUP to citizen participation. The study suggests that the governments should take into consideration the citizens’ feedback so as to meet their expectations and their satisfaction which may increase the level of citizen participation.

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>

INITIATIVE BUDGETING AS AN INSTRUMENT OF TERRITORIAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
V. V. Vagin ◽  
N. A. Shapovalova
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
State And Local Government ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Government Initiative ◽  
Local Levels

The article is devoted to the actual issue – institutional analysis of initiative budgeting and territorial public selfgovernment, as well as the possibility of their integration. Over the past few years, a system of civil participation in budget decisions has been built in Russia, the regulatory framework of practices has been created, thousands of employees of state and local government bodies have been trained, project centers have appeared for ensuring development of initiative budgeting. Citizen participation in budget decisions can significantly accelerate the development of the lower level of local government. Initiative budgeting is an innovative instrument of public finance and at the same time a social technology allowing for the real involvement of citizens in the issues of state and municipal governance. Initiative budgeting development programs make it possible to transfer financing of projects aimed at solving local issues with the participation of citizens onto a systemic basis. The results and materials of this study can serve a foundation for theoretical understanding of the institutional development of public finances at the regional and local levels. At the same time, this practical area that was intensively developing in recent years requires deep institutional analysis.

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