Today, all OECD member countries recognise new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to be powerful tools for enhancing citizen engagement in public policy-making. Despite the limited experience to date, some initial lessons for online citizen engagement in policy-making are emerging: ...

This report considers how, and to what extent, ICTs are being used to facilitate the provision of information and to support consultation and active participation of citizens to enable better policy-making. Numerous case studies from OECD member countries present specific government applications. These describe not only successes but also, importantly, the issues and constraints. Increasing engagement should, on the one hand, enable better policy but, on the other hand, it will increase the resources and time needed to construct policy. The report highlights 5 main challenges for e-engagement, those of: scale; building capacity and active citizenship; ensuring coherence; evaluating e-engagement; and ensuring commitment. Given the expanding knowledge base of e-engagement practice and the emergence of ...

This paper argues that much analysis of the relationship between the Internet and democracy has been obscured by the use of metaphors. The paper seeks to root e-democracy within the context of changing democratic culture and procedures. A model of information-flows for e-democracy is outlined. A number of policy objectives are set out, including the creation of trusted online spaces for democracy; integration of e-democracy into constitutionally recognised channels; the cultivation of meaningful interactivity between representatives and represented; the recruitment of traditionally excluded voices to online public debate, ..