e-Democracy - the UK perspective Peter Livesey Mexico City 11 September 2001

Overview The Office of the e-Envoy Why e-democracy? An e-democracy policy framework –context, concept, aims and objectives –delivery strands –EML schema Early experiments - lessons learned

e-government a strategic framework for public services in the Information Age

Champions Prime Minister e-Envoy Andrew Pinder Patricia Hewitt e-Minister Lord Macdonald & Chris Leslie e-Government

e.gov Electronic Government Services for the 21 st Century Performance and Innovation Unit

UK Online: Our Goals People: universal access by 2005 Business : 1 million smes e-trading by 2002 Government : all services online by 2005 To make the UK the best place in the world for e-commerce

e-Government strategy To make the UK one of the world’s leading knowledge economies All government services to be offered online by 2005 Everyone who wants it to have internet access by 2005

UK Online Action Plan 14.Drive forward citizen participation in democracy as part of UK online –online voter registration and online postal vote application –participation by devolved administrations and local authorities –local citizen-to-citizen dialogue

Is There a Problem? A strong representative democracy? –General election turnout ( % lowest since 1918) –Confidence in democratic institutions Generally speaking, do you tend to believe politicians when they make election pledges or do you tend to disbelieve them? 78% disbelieve (BBC Online). –Channels of influence (membership of UK political parties halved since 1980) The democratic deficit.

How Can New Technologies Help? Facilitate - e.g. make it easier for people to take part in elections. Broaden - provide new channels to include people that may have been excluded in the past. Deepen - strengthen the connections between citizens and government, parliament and each other.

The Aim of the Policy To strengthen representative democracy via the use of the internet and other communication technologies.

UK Political Context It is time to put e-democracy on the information agenda and begin to explore the role new technologies may play in revitalising democracy. Graham Stringer MP, Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, 3 rd Global Forum, Naples, 15 March 2001 Change comes from the bottom up as much as the top down. For the last 50 years, governments have failed to respect this basic truth. The Labour Party Manifesto 2001

Concept of E-democracy Track 1 – Public Participation The use of Internet and other communication technologies to give citizens opportunities to participate in the democratic process between elections. Track 2 – Efficient Voting The use of Internet and other communication technologies to simplify participation in elections to national, local and European parliaments assemblies and other elections under statutory control.

Challenges For ultimate success on e-democracy Inclusive access to Internet and other communication channels High requirements of security and protection of privacy - but not gold plated Responsive government Effective public deliberation and moderation Electronic provision of electronically stored official information e-Democracy Charter

Challenges: Getting People Online The goal is to achieve universal internet access by  access to the internet in the community through a network of 6,000 UK online centres by 2002  initiatives targeted at the poorest communities  Wired up communities and  Computers within reach  access is only one part of it - government is also addressing need to provide people with the skills, trust and motivation to use the internet

E-democracy Strands Public Participation consists of two strands: –Government to Citizen (e.g. consultation) includes local and regional government –Parliament to Citizen, Citizen to Citizen and Civil Society to influence the policy making process

E-democracy Strands Efficient Voting. A single strand but covers many areas: e.g. –e-voting –online registration –other statutory elections e.g. Trades Unions, private companies.

EML Schema Election Markup Language Vendors offer election services world-wide but with different –levels of automation –platforms and –architectures EML will provide a structured interchange of data between hardware, software and service vendors

EML Schema EML development will cover: –voter registration –citizen/membership authentication –absentee ballots –election timetabling –ballot delivery and tabulation –result reporting etc.

Early Experiments Citizen Space on UK Online Hansard Society online parliamentary enquiry Bristol and Croydon online referenda

Early Experiments All Party Domestic Violence Group - online parliamentary inquiry into domestic violence. Croydon and Bristol City Councils’ online referenda internet votes cast. –Bristol: 40% turnout - 3% online –Croydon: 35% turnout - 3.5% online

Summary e-Democracy is one means of helping to address the democratic deficit The aim of the policy should be to strengthen representative democracy New technologies can facilitate, broaden and deepen democratic participation e-Democracy brings with it challenges which must be met

E-democracy Team - OeE Peter Livesey +44 (0) Karin Edin +44 (0)