Could eDemocracy make the democratic deficit worse?
It was entirely possible to engage in last week’s local
government elections without being online. I’m not sure if the web was the
icing on the cake or just another channel in the London Mayoral campaigns but it
certainly played a part. Beyond London,
the use was more muted, perhaps because local government is more about
micro-campaigning and highly localised issues; on the ground counts more than
online, for now at least.
The internet permeates all levels of national politics and
it is becoming more prevalent within local government too. Councillors in Bath and North East Somerset are
using Facebook
to overcome the out-dated attitude of their council officers towards the online
engagement. Many councillors now use email, the web and are blogging. Last week
ICELE
launched its new ‘blog-in-a-box’ toolkit to encourage the latter.
As someone working in eDemocracy, I view this gradual shift
positively. However, I also retain a concern that, whilst politics moves
further online, we seem to be doing little to close the gap between those with
access to the internet and those without.
Internet access figures for the UK seem to be stalled at around 60%.
Community ICT projects continue and are valuable but I know from my own
research that what matters isn’t just being able to get to the internet – effective use
requires a level of immediacy. There is a digital deficit in this country
and it is caused by lack of money, lack of education, lack of skills to use the
technology and a lack of motivation to engage.
How can we as eDemocracy advocates continue to push online
engagement and choose to ignore this elephant in the corner of the room?
If we fail to incorporate strategies that enhance effective
adoption then we are complicit in perpetuating the digital deficit. Worse
still, we risk extending, not closing, the democratic deficit when we push for
more online engagement without at the same time working to get more people
online.
Andy
Williamson
Director, eDemocracy Programme
a[.]williamson[@]hansard[.]lse[.]ac[.]uk