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Electronic Democracy andSocial Welfare PolicyJohn G. McNutt a & Goutham Menon aa University of South Carolina School of Social Work ,Columbia, SC, 29208, USAPublished online: 15 Oct 2008.

To cite this article: John G. McNutt & Goutham Menon (2003) Electronic Democracyand Social Welfare Policy, The Social Policy Journal, 2:4, 87-91, DOI: 10.1300/J185v02n04_07

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INTERNET RESOURCESJohn G. McNutt, Editor

This regular column will review new and important resources on theInternet that are relevant to social welfare policy. Each issue will re-volve around a specific theme or area of social welfare policy. Readersare invited to suggest possible sites to John McNutt, Book and Web Re-view Editor, at <McNutt@bc.edu>.

Electronic Democracyand Social Welfare Policy:

A Look at Internet Resources

John G. McNuttGoutham Menon

One of the most profound hopes of Internet pioneers was that this newtechnology would revitalize American democracy and inspire a new ageof political participation (Rheingold, 1994; Meikle, 2002). While wehave yet to see such a profound transformation in the American politicalsystem (Davis, 1999), information and communication technologies arebeginning to become a vital part of the policy-making and deliberationprocess. This will have important implications for the creation andmodification of social policy.

John G. McNutt and Goutham Menon are both associated with the University ofSouth Carolina School of Social Work, Columbia, SC 29208.

The authors would like to thank Steve Cliff for his assistance with this discussion.

The Social Policy Journal, Vol. 2(4) 2003http://www.haworthpress.com/web/SPJ

2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J185v02n04_07 87

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One of these technology-driven movements is electronic democracyor e-democracy. Cliff (2002, np) defines E-democracy as follows: “E-de-mocracy represents the use of information and communication technol-ogies and strategies by democratic actors (governments, elected officials,the media, political organizations, citizen/voters) within political andgovernance processes of local communities, nations and on the interna-tional stage.” This article will discuss e-democracy and its relation tosocial welfare policy-making and provide a number of Web-resourcesfor interested scholars and practitioners.

Some of the most important aspects of e-democracy for social wel-fare policy are wired legislatures; on-line rulemaking; electronic voterinformation and voting; and efforts to extend deliberative democracyvia technology. These efforts represent major components of the deci-sion-making process for social welfare.

Wired Legislatures. Technology has extended the legislative processby providing access to legislative documents and communication ven-ues for dialog between legislators and constituents (Browning, 2002).The growth of Wired Legislatures has been one of fits and starts. Whilesome legislatures have moved very quickly to use technology effec-tively, others have done far less (Carter & Turner, 2001; West, 2001). Arelated issue is the extent to which legislators accept communication viathe Internet. Several studies (Davis, 1999; Lemmon & Carter, 1998;Bonner, 1998) raise questions about how easy it is for constituents to ef-fectively communicate with Congress electronically. On balance,Casey (1996) observes that each new technology that has attempted toinfluence Congress has met with initial resistance.

On-Line Rulemaking. On-line rulemaking looks at citizen and stake-holder participation in the creation of regulations. Technology allowsfor the solicitation and management of stakeholder comments on pro-posed regulations. Electronic rulemaking provides for enhanced partic-ipation, both in terms of numbers of citizens who might participate andalso in the depth of their possible participation (Carlitz & Gunn, 2002).This has become increasingly popular because of the cost savings in-volved.

Elections and Electoral Processes. Internet technology can have im-portant implications for elections. The Internet has become a primesource of information for voters. Easy access to information on candi-dates and issues is essential for an informed electorate. Electronic vot-ing, or voting via the Internet, has gained new importance since the2000 Election and the controversy over the Florida vote counts. So far,few states have tried Internet voting but the potential is enormous.

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Deliberative Democracy. Finally, electronic deliberative democracymeans using technology to enable direct citizen deliberation on currentissues. Some models promote citizen decision-making, in the sprit of theNew England Town Meetings. Technology can facilitate discussion,sharing deliberation and ultimately decision-making by citizens. TheMinnesota E-democracy project is a good example of this type of effort.

These are rough categories and there are a wide range of initiativesthroughout the world that aim at creating citizen input and involvementthrough technology. These efforts have important implications for so-cial welfare policy-making and the development of social welfare pol-icy practice.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY

Social welfare policy-making exists within a sphere where governmentalinstitutions are of critical importance (DiNitto, 2000). This means thatchanges in the political decision-making process have immediate impli-cations for the funding and regulation of social policy.

One of these issues is the Digital Divide (McNutt, 1996; Norris,2001). Lack of access to technology can translate into lack of politicalparticipation if political institutions become more dependent on elec-tronic means. This means that activists and citizen groups without tech-nology may be shut out of the process.

Another implication is that social welfare agencies and the groupsthat support them might be able to mount more successful policy changeefforts if they make use of the tools that technology provides (Hick &McNutt, 2002). This may be the principal challenge of the new economyfor social policy.

WEB RESOURCES

There are several excellent Websites that offer a rich vein of materialon electronic democracy. While a comprehensive list is beyond thisbrief review, here are some helpful resources.

Publicus.Net [http://www.publicus.net/]. This site is the work of Ste-ven Cliff, activist, visionary and E-democracy guru. It includes a terrificrange of resources and links. While it’s not flashy, it is easy to navigateand the content is exceptionally high quality. There is a downloadable

Internet Resources 89

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E-democracy book on the site, as well as a quick guide and access to thedo-wire discussion list.

Politics On-Line [http://www.politicsonline.com/]. This is a greatsite hosted by a political consulting firm. There is a wide range of newsitems, how-to articles, opinion pieces and other materials available onthis easy-to-navigate site. They have an excellent newsletter as well.

Goetzblog [http://slashdemocracy.org/gotzespace/]. This is a Blogsponsored by Dr. John Goetz and contains current materials, ideas andevents on E-democracy and E-government issues. There are also linksto a large number of useful Websites. This is a great resource if you needvery current developments in the electronic government field.

Minnesota E-Democracy [http://www.e-democracy.org/research/].The Minnesota E-Democracy project is one of the first projects of itstype in the United States. This easy-to-use site contains news, publica-tions and ideas. It is an excellent example of what can be done with cur-rent technology to revitalize the democratic process.

Center for Democracy and Technology [http://www.cdt.org/]. TheCenter is an advocacy group specializing in threats to democracy in anon-line world. Issues such as privacy, surveillance and freedom of ex-pression are confronted on the site.

Vox Pop [http://www.voxpolitics.com/]. This British site contains awealth of news and analysis. A manual of on-line campaigning is avail-able for download. There is some information on American campaignsand issues but the comparative dimension is fascinating.

George Washington University has two excellent sites that are well-worth exploring. The Congress On-line Project [http://www.congressonlineproject.org/] is designed to study the uses of Internettechnology in Congress, while Institute for Politics and Democracy onthe Internet: [http://www.ipdi.org/index.html] looks at the entire politi-cal spectrum. The latter has an excellent guide to on-line campaigning.Both sites have current news, publications for download, research resultsand links to other resources.

Two resources on voter education are Project Vote Smart [http://www.votesmart.org] and the League of Women Voters’ [http://www.dnet.org/]Democracy Network. Both have a wealth of voter education resources.Another useful site is Vote Net [http://www.votenet.com/] which has aslightly broader mission. The Center for Voting and Democracy [http://www.fairvote.org/] is an excellent source for materials concerning thedesign and functioning of electoral systems. You can download articlesand books from this site.

International Teledemocracy Center [http://itc.napier.ac.u k /default.htm] is a Scottish academic site at Napier University. Researchreports and practical materials are available on the site and an E-democ-racy tool kit is available.

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Participation, Political Organisations and the Impact of the InternetProject [http://www.ipop.org.uk/] is another UK Academic site atSalford University. It has a number of downloadable working papersavailable on electronic democracy issues. This project conducts researchon political participation, protest and the Internet.

In sum, these are just some of the many on-line resources availablefor those who are interested in electronic democracy. Some of the sitesthat deal with electronic government and electronic advocacy are usefulhere. While it is difficult to find material that is devoted to social wel-fare exclusively, such a site should develop in the near future. This is anexciting new area that promises to change the nature of social welfarepolicy-making.

REFERENCES

Bonner, J. (1998). The Internet and grassroots lobbying: The next wave. Campaignsand elections, 19(9), 46-48.

Browning, G. (2002). Electronic democracy: Using the Internet to influence Americanpolitics, 2nd ed. Wilton, CT: Pemberton Press.

Carlitz, R. D. & Gunn, R. W. (2002). Online Rulemaking: A step toward E-Governance.Retrieved from <http://www.info-ren.org/publications/giq_2002/giq_2002html>, onMay 13, 2003.

Carter, M. & Turner, R. (2001). Plugged in, turning up: An assessment of state legisla-tive websites. Washington, DC: OMBWatch.

Casey, C. (1996). The Hill on the net: Congress enters the information age. Boston:Academic Press.

Cliff, S. (2002). E-Democracy resource links. Retrieved from <http://www.publicus.net/articles/edemresources.html> on May 13, 2003.

Davis, R. (1999). The Web of politics: The Internet’s impact on the American politicalsystem. New York: Oxford University Press.

DiNitto, D. M. (2000). Social welfare: Politics and public policy (5th ed.). NeedhamHeights: Allyn and Bacon.

Hick, S. & McNutt, J. (eds.). (2002). Advocacy and activism on the Internet: Perspec-tives from community organization and social policy. Chicago: Lyceum Press.

Lemmon, P. & Carter, M. (1998). Speaking up in the Internet age. Washington, DC:OMBWatch.

McNutt, J. G. (1996). National information infrastructure policy and the future of theAmerican welfare state: Implications for the social welfare policy curriculum. Jour-nal of Social Work Education, 6(3), 375-388.

Meikle, G. (2002). Future active: Media activism and the Internet. New York: Routledge.Norris, P. (2001). Digital divide. New York: Cambridge University Press.Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic fron-

tier. New York: Harper.West, D. M. (2001). E-government and the transformation of public sector service de-

livery. Paper prepared for delivery at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Po-litical Science Association, San Francisco, CA. August 30-September 2, 2001.

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