Brief strategy

From DoWire Wiki

While the "why" of e-democracy is fundamentally important, the general purpose of this group is focused on the "how." Thankfully, the "why" question does fit within a case study in the sense that it is very important to document "why" a government has implemented an e- democracy project or what democratic purpose they have identified as being met by implementing a feature.

Right now we need to focus on real-world implementation that are in operation that might help other governments (particularly local) make the best choices with limited e-democracy resources and capacity.

A secret I've found in my speaking is that if I can find one, just one government, that has done something innovative or important with e-democracy, sharing that example is more powerful and results- oriented than anything else I can say. "It's been done, the risk is less" is much more effective than suggesting its a moral democratic obligation for X government to act now (even though I believe that). We do need to foster citizen demand for e-democracy and that is something I am working on over here <http://e-democracy.org/uk>.

To get a sense of the work we are building from, check out the links from - http://www.publicus.net/e-government/

• E-Government and Democracy Report - The 41 page report detailing

the democratic goals of e-government with case examples by Steven Clift.

• UN World Public Sector Report - E-Government at the Crossroads -

November 2003

• e-Democracy: Putting Down Global Roots (PDF) - Janet Caldow, IBM

Institute for Electronic Government - January 2004

• Promise and Problems of E-Democracy: Challenges of Online Citizen

Engagement (PDF for viewing only, more information) - OECD - January 2004

• E-Governance to E-Democracy: Examining the Evolution (Word) -

Thomas B. Riley and Cathia Gilbert Riley, Commonwealth Centre for E- Governance - December 2003

• European E-Forum E-Democracy Work Group 4 - Initial Results (Word) -

Includes a dozen case studies, Edited by Ann Macintosh - September 

2003

• Deeping Democracy through E-Governance (PDF) - Pippa Norris,

Harvard University - The other e-participation-related article commissioned by the UN as an input into their World Public Sector Report - May 2003

So, idea with the Briefs is to step back and describe some of the mostly lower cost, high return online features. Stepping stones staff can work with directly so governments aren't intimidated by the idea that e-democracy must wait until it is part of some big project. And with Case Studies we will document a new or updated generation of projects that will make the path toward effective larger scale e-democracy investment clearer.

Welcome to the incrementalist democratic evolution.