Modelling Democracy: e-democracy and decision-making - Towards a User Generated State? John Morison QUB

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Modelling Democracy e-democracy and
decision-making - Towards a User Generated
State?John Morison QUB
8th May 2009
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Web 2.0(Next generation of computing)
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Web 2.0

• The new revolution in information
• Not new technology but new end user focus
• User generated content (file sharing not portals)
• Enhanced creativity
• Increased interaction
• Social networking, ebay, Flickr, Skype, Amazon,
  RSS, Google / Stumble, YouTube
• (Open source, mashups, twitter, wikis, blogs,
  Facebook, etc, etc)

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Web 2.0 Gov 2.0

• The Power of Information
• Re-invigorate electoral politics
• Re-engineer public services
• Re-inventing the state and idea of the public

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Power of information

• Free availability of public data
• Re-use of official data
• Government in partnership
• More information

• User-generated sites
• Mash-ups sharing data, Personalised
  government
• More involvement

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The Places Database Analytical Windows

• Places analytical windows http//www.places.commun
  ities.gov.uk/places 
• Floor Targets Interactive (FTI) 
  http//www.fti.communities.gov.uk/fti/
• State of the Cities database http//www.socd.commu
  nities.gov.uk/socd
• Green Spaces 
• Community Maps Digital and Social Geographies of
  Great Britain  http//www.gps.communities.gov.uk/c
  ommunitymaps 
• Data4nr.net - Data for Neighbourhoods and
  Regeneration - http//www.data4nr.net/introduction
  /
• Indices of Multiple Deprivation -
  http//www.imd.communities.gov.uk/

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• http//www.localpriorities.communities.gov.uk/.
• http//www.greenflagaward.org.uk/maps/
• http//www.greenstat.org.uk
• http//www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk
• http//www.esd.org.uk/esdtoolkit/Communities/LIS
• http//www.civilservice.gov.uk/cross-government/ca
  pability/reports.aspx

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MySociety applicationsWritetoThem.com
TheyWorkforYou.com

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Power of Information as key

• the information revolution
• the smarter, more strategic state
• the democratising power of information
• Gordon Brown April 2009

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Two aspects of the smarter, user generated state

• 1. Improving participation in formal democracy
• 2. Re-establishing the basis of public services

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1. Improving democracyRe-engagement with formal
politics

• Voter turn-out less than 60
• Membership of political parties less than 25 of
  level in 1960s
• But
• 60 express an interest in politics 70
  willing to sign a petition 20 have boycotted
  products

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Making democracy and government work in the UK

• Governance of Britain a Green Paper
• a national conversation about how .. to
  forge a new relationship between government and
  citizen
• Key goal to invigorate democracy

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What is being done to develop democracy?

• Democratic innovations
• Central Government citizen/consumer
• Local Government consumer/citizen
• E-government e-citizen/participant

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Big Government and democratic innovations

• Referendums
• Deliberative forums - Citizen summits
• - Citizens juries
• Petitions and e-petitions
• ( duty of Local Councils to respond)

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e-consultations
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Local government and active citizens

• Local Government and Public Involvement in Health
  Act 2007
• LSPs to produce ground-up LAAs
• Vision, targets, milestones, Neighbourhood Action
  Plans, Neighbourhood Charters etc.
• duty to involve
• The Community Power Pack (2008)
• Local Democracy
• National Project
• e-engagement techniques

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Local authorities vibrant hubs or
democratic centres

• duty of democracy
• generation of ideas, volunteering, take part
  campaigns
• well-being duty,
• participatory planning
• Civic Champions,
• Empowerment fund,
• community kitties

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Participatory Budgeting

• Information to support priority decision-making
• Local Authorities and neighbourhoods
• ICT supported
• 10 m since 2004
• (2-3 annually)

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Sustainable Communities Act 2007a change in the
relationships in British politics

• Bottom-up suggestions from community
• Financial information to support local take-over
  of functions
• Proposals shortlisted by Selector
• Sec of State required to implement

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2. Public Services and the Modernisation of
Government a continuing phenomenon

• a style of government aimed at
• reinvigorating public services
• Introducing new concepts of efficiency
• including elements of private sector efficiency,
  but without ceding control to the same extent as
  with earlier versions of privatisation
• to ensure that the public sector will operate in
  a way that is as efficient, dynamic and
  effective as anything in the private sector
• a philosophy of government as well as a means of
  government

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Re-engineering Public Services
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Transformational Government in the UK

• enabled by technology
• 6 year plan
• customer-centric, shared services,
  professionalism
• Linked to goals of increased economic
  productivity and enhanced social justice

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Public services and Citizens

• The individualisation / personalisation of
  services
• The construction of ideas of communities,
  consumers, enterprising and prudential selves,
• Active, responsible, informed and engaged citizens

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Gov 2.0 and services

• equipping people with far better, richer
  information
• using new technology to foster dialogue about
  public services with citizens and civil servants
• User-focused, interactive
• Personal budgets for health and social care

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Information-led citizen-centred
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Information for choice

• Performance measured against the new set of 198
  National Indicators in force from 1 April 2008

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How do we interpret this?

• Within liberal democracy?
• Something more?

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Democratic sufficiency?
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How do we better interpret this?

• we must conduct an ascending analysis of power,
  starting that is, from its infinitesimal
  mechanisms and then see how these have been
  and continue to be invested, colonized,
  utilized, involuted, transformed, displaced,
  extended etc. by ever more general mechanisms and
  by forms of global domination
• Michel Foucault

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Governmentality and the constitutional subject

• Who is the legal subject summoned up by these
  discourses?
• How different from the classical man of law as
  equal, rational, rights bearing, autonomous homo
  juridicus?
• How can these ideas of citizenship be contested?
• What understanding of power, the state and
  democracy is being invoked to direct these
  strategies?
• - Foucauldian approaches give more complex view
  of the proliferation of governmental technologies
  and subjects
• What is left of our idea of the public?
• (public space, public interest, public service
  etc.)
• How can counter publics emerge?

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The choosing citizen /consumer

• Public services replicating idea of choice from
  private sector of competing providers
• But not only about exiting the market and
  punishing poor providers.
• Passing control back to service users.
• I.e. private law customer rights v. public law
  ideas of control in citizen-centred service
• Individualised services
• ( e.g. individual budgets for health, not health
  budgets)
• .

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The enhanced consumer

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The (marginally) enhanced consumer
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The failed consumer
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The contributing citizen

• University education
• NHS Dentistry
• Road use

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The contributing citizen - surrendering rights
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The watched and controlled citizen
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The responsible citizen

• Self-governing and prudent
• Risk managing
• Insured

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Beyond the consumer state to the user-generated
state?

• The interactive state
• The active, consulted, empowered citizen /
  consumer
• control with user of services
• personalised
• participatory
• interactive
• on demand
• transparent
• Government 2.0

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How do we contest these ideas of citizenship?

• Does interaction user generation information
  participation democracy?

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