Democratic process electronically elected
It is often noticed that participation in the electoral process is generally weak, mostly because voters may feel that candidates are not expressing issues they are concerned with, or because they feel their vote will make little difference in the eventual outcome. Some may feel too beleaguered to attend voting stations, others may not have the inclination to travel and some may be incapable of doing so. Whatever the cause or reason, democracy is only as good as a system as the people participating in it. With this in mind, eight partners from the UK, Finland, Germany and the Slovak Republic joined together with the view to create an online e-democracy platform where citizens will have the chance to participate in online discussions and opinion polls about key local issues. Test runs of the programme originally launched in 2002 both in Wolverhampton City Council and several towns of the Slovak republic, successfully introduced WEBOCRACY. The service is an interactive website, where citizens would gain access to local government information and join in discussion groups via online discussion forums. The website primarily aimed at people who may feel less comfortable speaking openly in public or to opinion polers. During discussions, citizens are presented with a list of discussion topics. There, they can choose issues such as crime, cleaner streets, public health, law and order and even recreational facilities. The system was designed upon the needs of potential users-citizens, elected members and council officers. Those who require specific information can now have online access to important documents, reports, budget proposals without their physical presence as a requirement. They can locate their desired documents from a variety of menus, indexes and search facilities automatically retrieved by an Information Desk (Retrieval component) and published by a Web Content Management system. An important asset of the present e-democracy website is that it offers links to other community events and involved agencies, keeping the user better and more currently informed. In addition, open dialogue discussions are classified and citizens' contributions are organised accordingly while keeping better track of the topics discussed. Finally, a voting room module allows citizens to vote electronically using authentification and voter's privacy security systems. This new WEBOCRACY aspires to a more open and direct medium of communication, granting local government with a transparent face and citizens with a vivid voice to raising crucial local concerns.
