*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** See URL for top ten state list. Also see <http://www.digitalgovt.com/statesprogram.html>. From: http://www.govtech.net/publications/gt/2000/july/Empowering/Empowering.shtm Digital Democracy | Digital States Survey Empowering the Digital Citizen Arizona and Washington provide the best digital options to date. Digital democracy is an essential component of e-government. Any democracy is only as strong as it involves citizens in active participation in electoral and legislative processes. The digital democracy portion of the Digital States Survey assesses the extent to which citizens have access to laws, legislatures and democratic processes through the Internet. The focus of questions in this section is upon several distinct targets: Can citizens easily follow the decisions made by the legislature, and can they electronically direct comments and suggestions to those who were elected to represent their interests? Does the state Web site provide election research materials, and can citizens participate in elections online? Do members of the public have remote access to legislative proceedings? And do they have access to information on lobbyists, organizations and individuals who may be influencing the conduct of government? How accessible are the governor and the judicial branch via the Web and e-mail? "Overall, we wanted to determine where government was successfully using the Internet to inform and engage citizens, giving better governance through technology," said Cathilea Robinett, executive director of the Center for Digital Government, co-sponsor of the survey. "The results of this year's survey showed that in general, the states have come a lot further in this than we expected, particularly bringing what legislatures are doing online -- the ability to search for bill information, for instance. Citizens have access to the business of legislatures in ways they never did before." - End of Clip - ^ ^ ^ ^ 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. ***
