eGov monitor feature: eDemocracy

7 May 2002

Digital Democracy

The most important breakthrough for eDemocracy as opposed to eGovernment is taking place behind an obscure motion in the House of Lords, notes Graham Allen MP.

Parliament is beginning the long awaited process of pre-legislative scrutiny online. This will mean not only in future that bills will be scrutinised properly by MPs before going to standing committee, but that since the whole process will be online, any elector with access to a PC will be able to see the live evidence taking and respond to the email address at the bottom of the screen. A mediator attached to the pre-legislative committee will distil the best of the responses for the committee to look at the next day.

The revolutionary idea here is to involve MPs in the legislative process and also the electors.

The following motion appeared on the Order Paper of the House of Lords on 29 April.

The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn) to move, That it is expedient that a Joint Committee of Lords and Commons be appointed to consider and report on any draft Communications Bill presented to both Houses by a Minister of the Crown, and that the Committee should report not later than 3 months after any such bill has been presented to both Houses.

This motion was agreed to and a message sent to the Commons where the motion was debated and agreed.

Charles Lowe, Director of EEMA - the European Forum for Electronic Business and a founder of BT Stepchange, makes several pertinent comments on the use of technology in Parliament and at local government levels:

"eDemocracy in its widest interpretation is a very important development.

"With the local elections comes the usual concern about voter apathy. As always the call is for easier voting, using postal votes, the Internet, interactive TV...or even mobile phones. In many people's mind making it easier to vote is seen as the solution to the ever-reducing turnout in most European elections. The only contribution that modern communications technology can provide is seen by such people as eVoting. eVoting (and postal voting) will, they believe, get many more people voting, just by cutting out the journey to the polling station.

"That misses the point. There will be some increases in turnout figures through making it easier to vote, but there is overwhelming evidence that most people don't vote because they don't feel involved in the democratic process. Modern communications technology can make a huge difference here, by giving people immediate access to discussion forums and enabling them to read and respond to developments very fast. As Mr Allen points out, online prelegislative scrutiny would be a major step in providing opportunities for such involvement. As he said when commending the idea to the House, it is important too to make sure that this sense of involvement is then cultivated by prompt acknowledgement of contributions to the scrutiny process and continuing feedback on the subsequently impact of these contributions.

"The UK Government is already well down the path of encouraging such involvement. The first official national experiment in eDemocracy has been up and running for over a year now, as the Citizen Space section on UKOnline (http://www.ukonline.gov.uk/). Access figures for the UK Online site are not currently publicly available, so it is not possible to say how well received this experiment is, though the sheer number of contributions suggests that it is already a popular feature.

"There is though still scope for improvements in the software to make it both easier to make such contributions and to track the impact of them once they have been made. As those happen and as the Internet reaches out to more and more people, we must do all we can to encourage Parliament to embrace the opportunities of wider democratic involvement. The temptation to decide things behind closed doors, to claim openness when non exists, to duck offering a real alternative - in short the management of Parliament - must be resisted, in favour of providing the electorate with a real opportunity to make their mark and to feel fully involved at whatever level - local or national - they wish.

"Perhaps then we could consider eVoting."

Dr Simon Moores, Chairman of the Research Group, gives a personal comment:

"If I were to be asked for a deeply personal opinion, I would ask if Government is psychologically prepared for the arrival of anything resembling a true democratic process or in other words consultation as opposed to what the media regards as the politicised coercion of our elected representatives .

"However, any commitment to eDemocracy like Freedom of Information is a starting point on the road to a more open and democratic society and of all nations, Britain should be seen as one that is prepared to set an example and not as one that reluctantly drags its feet over a commitment to open government."

The Scots feel strongly that they are ahead of the game; Robert Sullivan, an academic and author specialising in public policy, notes:

"As a new Parliament [The Scottish Parliament], it is fitting that we seem to have beaten the 'other place' off the mark when it comes to eGovernment, eDemocracy and e-consultation. The Parliament's interactive WWW site not only allows users to view current and archived events but more recently the facility to engage in on-line consultation has been enlarged.

"It is possible to see special 'tributes' to many Scots not least to our first, First Minister, Donald Dewar and to see the opening (or re-opening) of the Scottish Parliament from your desktop.

"The Scottish Executive stresses the need for this country to take a lead in high technology and innovation if we are to succeed. It is a great pleasure to see the public and private sector here in Scotland working in partnership to provide first class, innovative eGovernment to the people of Scotland.

"As to the Lords, and the other 'other place' in Westminster, it is good that you are e-ventually catching up and I am sure that the many other democracies around the world that have visited our WWW and real Parliament have taken a great pleasure in benchmarking with us and thinking that they too can achieve this."

And speaking of taking it deeply personal:

Alan Smart Head of Broadcasting Unit, Holyrood, Edinburgh has joy in announcing: "Good luck to the House of Lords but the Scottish Parliament beat them to it"

Jim Sproat of CommunityPeople - the Scottish company which provides the interactive technology, online community management and moderation services to the Scottish Parliament - would also like to congratulate their Lordships . . . on coming second in this important race towards consultative democracy.

"Today in Edinburgh, in the (online) Athens of the North, not only can we can see and hear our legislators online but we can engage directly with them . . and, most importantly, they to us - the citizens of this great land.

"These first-in-the-UK, parliamentary, interactive discussions … are available to all - Commoners, Captains and Kings alike - at http://www.scottishparliamentlive.com, an address as noble as you will find in all of this United Kingdom and, indeed, hyperspace."