*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do ***
The excellent, must read "E-Democracy in Practice: Swedish experiences of a new political tool" report (in English) was just released by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Swedish Federation of County Councils and Regions. If the recent UK national government e-democracy policy moves represent top level policy momentum, this review of local e-democracy happenings in Sweden presents the reality emerging at the level of democracy closest to the people. The report gives examples that in my opinion help demonstrate why e-democracy will have its greatest positive impact on the lives and involvement of citizens at the local level first. The full paper (table of contents below) is available from this page in PDF <http://www.svekom.se/skvad/indexeng.htm> (lower left column) or directly at <http://www.svekom.se/skvad/E-democracy-en.pdf> [1.2MB]. This paper will be presented at the Council of European Municipalities and Regions and Union of Belgian Cities and Municipalities' conference on "E-governance at local and regional level: New forms of citizen participation and democratic decision- making" November 28, 2001 <http://www.ccre.org/antwerp/home.htm>. Steven Clift Democracies Online http://www.e-democracy.org/do From: http://www.svekom.se/skvad/E-democracy-en.pdf E-DEMOCRACY IN PRACTICE Swedish experiences of a new political tool PREFACE Discussions about e-democracy have to date concerned various projects. It is now time to use the experience gained in these projects in the everyday political life encountered by the public and their elected representatives. A description of present working methods and of what is added when e-mail and the Internet are used gives us some of the answers as to what this new technology provides. However, such a description leaves some questions unanswered and gives rise to others that we also cannot answer as yet. The aim of this paper is to place the various projects that have been conducted into a context that we recognise – from the political debate to the decision-making process and political follow-up. Tommy Rosén Project Manager Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Swedish Federation of County Councils and Regions Department of Democracy and Self-government CONTENT 3 The internet as an aid to democracy 4 The internet in the political debate. 6 Influencing political drafting using the internet 10 Presenting motions on web sites 11 The internet increases the transparency of political decisions 12 Lack of consultation in connection with implementation 13 Political quality work 14 Democratic keyquestions 14 References [SLC - Download the full paper in PDF from the web address above. Below is my text-only adaptation of the concept navigation bar tied to each section of the guide.] Political debate --------- Drafting ---> Chat Dialogue Consultation Referendum --------- Political drafting- period ----> Information on the website --------- Political proposals ----> Webtransmission Call a politician --------- Political decisions -----> Information on the website --------- Implementation -----> Focusgroups Citisens' panels --------- Political quality work <------> Feedback ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
