Online Consultation: Governments Engaging Citizens Seminar - From the Archives

Online Consultation: Governments Engaging Citizens

Seminar

By Steven Clift, Publicus.Net

Online Consultation

Seminar Outline

• Introduction• Online Consultation• Conclusion

Introduction

Introduction• Moving from one-way old media to two-way

communication

• Many-to-many communication is the focus of this seminar

• “The most democratizing aspect of the Internet is the ability for people to organize and communicate in groups.”- Steven Clift from Democracy is Online article in, OnTheInternet, April 1998

Introduction

• Taking the E-citizen perspective – What do people actually do online? – How can that knowledge be used to design

interactive opportunities?

• Time online. People spend more time in their e-mail box than surfing on the web.

• E-mail is where the e-citizens roam. The web is a tremendous and valuable complement.

Introduction

• Daily Internet Activities – PewInternet.OrgOn a typical day, Americans with net access:

– Go online - 53%– Send email - 46– Use an online search engine

to find information - 29 – Get news - 22– Surf the Web for fun - 22– Look for info on a hobby - 19– Check the weather - 17 – Do any type of research for

their job - 16

– Do an Internet search to answer a specific question - 14

– Research a product or service before buying it - 14

– Get financial information - 13– Look for info about movies,

books, or other leisure activities - 13

– Send an instant message - 11– Check sports scores - 10– Look for political

news/information - 9 – Research for school or training -

9 – Visit a government Web site - 8

Introduction

• Local online groups, where might e-citizen already “be”?– Club EGroups– Religious Institutions E-News lists– Local Business and Trade Groups E-Lists– Sports Group E-Lists– Media Hosted Web Forums– Social Chat Forums (Younger net users)– Civic/NGO E-Lists– Neighbors, Apartment Complexes– EGroups with Personal FriendsAdapted from PewInternet.Org report on Online Communities

Introduction

• Do most people view the Internet as a way to get involved locally? Not yet. We must change that.

– 67% of American Internet users say the Net helps them get involved in things outside their community

– 9% say it helps them get involved in things close to home.

– However, 26% of American Internet users (or 28 million people) have employed the Internet to contact or get information about local groups.

• From PewInternet.Org’s, Online Communities survey, continued …

Introduction

• Of American Internet users, they go online “often” or “sometimes”:– 41% for information about local stores or merchants. – 35% for news about their local community or community events. – 30% for information about local government. – 24% for information about local schools. – 13% to email public officials. (Only half of all net users say their

town has a Web site, and few net users find it very useful.)

– 11% of Internet users say they are aware of at least one local issue where the net played a role in organizing citizens to communicate with public officials.

– Percentage doubles to 22% for Internet users who are active members of online communities.

– Source: PewInternet.Org Online Communities survey

Introduction

• If “barriers to entry” to publishing information or hosting discussions online are low, what scarcities remain?

– User Time – User Attention– Resources available to produce quality content,

host consultations and discussions

• Increasing expectations of users important• These factors must always be taken into

consideration.

Introduction

• Value of online community and consultations include:

– Anywhere– Anytime – On your own time– Diverse voices– Complement not replace existing participation

• Can overcome the “democratic divide” despite digital divide

• Most current decision-making processes have specific place and time restrictions.

Online Consultation

• Online consultations are (normally) time-limited events designed to inform the public policy process and inform interested citizens and experts

• Often sponsored by government and NGOs, sometimes media – this presentation has a government focus

• Related terms – online events, online hearings, e-rulemaking

Online Consultation

• Why do them?– Increase the quality, quantity, and diversity of

information and opinion available to decision-makers

– Educate citizens on the policy options and complex choices

– Build public and media awareness on priority issues

– Float ideas and proposals to determine interest, build support, lessen opposition

• Don’t expect them to be easy or less work than in-person consultations or public hearings

Online Consultation

Online Consultation Top Ten Tips

1. Political Support Required.

2. State Purpose, Share Context.

3. Build an Audience.

Online Consultation

• 4. Choose Your Model and Elements Carefully.

Examples– Questions and Answers– Document/Policy Comments– Online Expert Panel– Online Conference– E-Rulemaking Comments– Policy Implementation Information Exchange– Live Chat/Interview Events– Live Multimedia Events– Consultation Index (Traditional Participation)– Other Online Elements: Surveys and Polls, Comment

Forms, Petitions, Testimony, Focus Groups, Web Forums and E-mail Lists

• Here are select examples …

Online Consultation

• Consultation Calendar (Traditional +)

Online Consultation

• Questions and Answers

Online Consultation

• Policy/Document comments sought

Online Consultation• Online Expert/Guest Panel

Online Consultation

• Online Conferences

Online Consultation• E-Rulemaking Comments

Online Consultation

• Policy Implementation and Info Exchange

Online Consultation

• Live Chats, Live Multimedia Events

Online Consultation• Online Polls and Surveys

Online Consultation• Online Polls and Surveys 2

Online Consultation

• Web Forums

Fujisawa City, Japan has

Government introduced topics and citizen created topic in two columns – a key innovation.

Approximately 600 of 3000 local governments in Japan have web forums, most are not active. Fujisawa is successful exception with staff time dedicated to facilitating the forum.

Online Consultation

• E-mail lists – are more implementation oriented

Online Consultation

Back to the final 5 of 10 top tips …

5. Create Structure.

6. Provide Facilitation and Guidelines.

7. Disseminate Content and Results.

Online Consultation

8. Access to Decision-Makers and Staff Required.

9. Promote Civic Education.

10. Not About Technology.

Full article online at:http://www.publicus.net/articles/consult.html

Online Consultation

Addition resources online at bottom of:http://www.publicus.net/articles/consult.html

• Bowling Together: Online Public Engagement in Policy Deliberation• OECD Citizens as Partners Guide: Information, Consultation and Public

Participation in Policy-Making (268 pages) • Engaging Citizens in Policy-making: Information, Consultation and Public

Participation. OECD Public Management Policy Brief No. 10 • Building Digital Bridges - Creating Inclusive Online Parliamentary

Consultations • Electronic Democracy and Educating Young People • New Media and Social Exclusion (report excerpt from Hansard Society) • On-line Engagement – New Models and Implications for Government

Departments and Officials • Lessons from the Network Model for Online Engagement of Citizens • Electronic Civic Consultation: A guide to the use of the Internet in

interactive policy making (Key Dutch report from 1997)

Conclusion

• We have a choice – use information and communications technologies to improve the connection between citizens and their governments or not.

• We have a choice – build online efforts among and for citizens that connect them with each other in order to raise their voices in our communities or not.

Conclusion

• This is an evolution that can be shaped on our terms, our democratic terms.

• Ultimately, our goal is to create systems for political participation that fully accommodate the will of the people so we can improve the outcomes of our public work and society as a whole.

Further Information

• Democracies Online Newswirehttp://www.e-democracy.org/doOver 2500 people around the world exchanging announcements, news, and articles related to e-democracy, e-government, and e-politics.

• E-Democracy Resources Flyerhttp://publicus.net/articles/edemresources.htmlLinks to the top e-democracy starting points on a two page flyer available in HTML, Word, and PDF.

• Publicus.Net http://www.publicus.netMore articles and presentations by Steven Clift

Online Consultation: Governments Engaging Citizens Seminar - From the Archives

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