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See notes below about: http://www.democracyforum.org.uk What do you get when you mix E-Government and Representative Democracy? "Representative E-Democracy." In most places most "democracy-related" e-government investment is going into administrative/executive branch online consultation and e- rulemaking processes. This investment is good, but needs to be counter-balanced. I argue that representative institutions - from parliaments to local councils - must invest in ICTs in order make their official public processes more useful, relevant and accessible to all citizens. These institutions must make uniform ICT tools available to their elected member or our representatives will lose relative power to increasingly powerful government departments and Cabinet members who have ever increasing technology and communication resources. It is very encouraging that the UK Parliament's Information Committee is asking for your input on the use of "information and communication technologies and the work of the House of Commons." Read the short note and starter questions from Stephen Coleman below. Steven Clift Democracies Online http://www.e-democracy.org/do ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: "Stephen Coleman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: UK Parliamentary Inquiry Date sent: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 22:54:33 +0100 The Information Committee of the UK Parliament is holding an Inquiry into ways that ICTs can help Members (MPs) carry out their work more effectively and interact with the public. The Committee will report to Parliament on its findings in July of this year. As specialist advisor to the Inquiry, I have been asked to set up a web site and seek evidence from ICT and e-democracy experts from the UK and beyond. Members of the DO-Wire and DO-Consult lists are urged to go to http://www.democracyforum.org.uk, click on the Information Committee button and contribute your ideas to the Inquiry. I shall ensure that a copy of the final report is distributed to these lists. Stephen Coleman, Specialist Advisor, Information Committee Inquiry [More below - cut and pasted by SLC] ------- End of forwarded message ------- Once you login, this in a collection of discussion starting posts to give you a sense of what this is about: Topic: MPs and their Work (1 of 1), Read 14 times Conf: MPs and their work From: Stephen Coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, April 25, 2002 10:18 PM The committee would appreciate your responses to the following questions: 1. Which ICTs will be most appropriate for the work of an elected representative in five years time? 2. How can representatives ensure that they are communicating with those they represent (their constituents)and not others, such as citizens from other constituencies or countries - or professional lobbyists? 3. What sort of skills do elected representatives need to succeed in the information age? 4. How can ICTS help MPs to be better at a) representing their constituents; b) considering legislation; c) scrutinising the Government; and d) relating to the media? Please post responses to these questions under different topic headings. Stephen Coleman, Specialist Adviser to the Information Committee Inquiry Topic: No Topic (1 of 1), Read 18 times Conf: Parliament and the public From: Stephen Coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, April 25, 2002 10:24 PM The committee is interested in looking at ways that Parliament can use ICTs to interact with the public. Responses to the following questions would be most welcome. 1. How can Parliament best use ICTs to consult with the public about matters of policy, legislation and scrutiny? 2. Is there a danger that online consultations could raise public expectations and lead to frustration? How might this be avoided? 3. How might Parliament be interacting with citizens in five - or ten - years time? 4. What would be the benefit of webcasting Parliament? (An experiment in webcasting the UK Parliament is taking place at the moment.) Topic: International examples (1 of 1), Read 16 times Conf: International examples From: Stephen Coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, April 25, 2002 10:27 PM The Information committee is very interested in learning from other parliaments and representative institutions. It has visited the Scottish Parliament and will be visiting the Welsh Assembly. It will be holding a video-conference with MPs in the Canadian Parliament. Examples of good practice (or, indeed, unsuccessful practice) from other countries would be much appreciated. Stephen Coleman, Specialist Adviser to the Information Committee Inquiry ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ^ ^ ^ ^ 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. ***
