E-DEMOCRACY FROM ABOVE & FROM BELOW Professor Stephen Coleman, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford

“Democracy does not mean and cannot mean that the people actually rule in any obvious sense of the terms 'people' and 'rule.' Democracy means only that the people have the opportunity of accepting or refusing the men who are to rule them. But since they might decide this also in entirely undemocratic ways, we have had to narrow our definition by adding a further criterion identifying the democratic method, viz., free competition among would-be leaders for the vote of the electorate." Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

Voter turnout over the past fifty years

Unequal participation

The e-voting pilots (2003)

We (politicians and media) who constitute the ‘political class’ conduct politics in a way that turns off our voters, readers, listeners and viewers … And so the task for Parliament is to connect. Too many people believe that government is something that is done to them. Westminster must stop giving the impression of being a private club and instead give the public a greater sense of ownership. (Rt. Hon. Peter Hain, 2003)

Public attitudes to Parliament 72% feel ‘disconnected’ from Parliament, with nearly half (46%) feeling ‘very disconnected.’ The vast majority (eighty per cent) of people who felt disconnected from Parliament reported that they had not voted in the previous general election. Ninety-eight percent of those who felt very connected, and eighty- nine per cent of those who felt slightly connected, reported voting, whereas over half (fifty-two per cent) of the very disconnected had not voted. Non-voters were far less likely to have had contact with their MPs than voters.

Connectedness to MP and voting

“… democratic governments are under pressure to adopt a new approach to policy-making – one which places greater emphasis on citizen involvement both upstream and downstream to decision-making. It requires governments to provide ample opportunity for information, consultation and participation by citizens in developing policy options prior to decision-making and to give reasons for their policy choices once a decision has been taken.” OECD, Citizens As Partners (2001)

Four characteristics of top-down e-democracy The appropriation of democracy Politics as a form of e-commerce The public as audience Replicating dull and obsolete practices

Four characteristics of interactive e-democracy: Democracy as public conversation Representation as a direct relationship Connecting grass-roots networks The politics of everyday experience

Monitoring e-democracy The need for independent and critical evaluation Asking the key democratic questions Recognising that actors have various interests and intentions The need for long-term studies measuring use and impact