Citizen 2.0

Citizenscape: from self expression to e-petition

Sean Ellis, account manager of Citizenscape, a web platform launched in 2008 within an EC funded eParticipation programme, presents the initiatives operated in Ireland, Slovakia, Italy and the UK.

Citizenscape aims at involving online citizens in the democratic process by using the social web. Twenty five experts are present online to answer the questions of more than one thousand registered users.

The project enabled the use of all resources available online (videos, widgets, Facebook and Twitter sites), to connect to democratic and participatory tools such as ePetitions, namely in the city of Bristol (UK), where 17,000 people signed a petition concerning a new football stadium. The system has just been adopted by the Northwest Territories of Canada.

Important aspect, the questions around the utility of such a platform: Why use a site that you don’t know when you can discuss the same subjects on Facebook? “It’s simply a matter of trust”, retorts Sean Ellis.

• The winners of the e-Democracy Awards 2010
• Citizenscape website

Are they ready to lose control?

On the British "Headstar e-Government Blog", Stephen Hilton, Programme lead of Connecting Bristol write: "we need to understand why many in local government see "Web 2.0" as a threat." Noting that many British Councils regularly cite the same old excuses to justify their non-use of Web 2.0 (not enough bandwidth, security risks of information systems, lack of interest of the citizens, need to focus on the real work), he concludes that "the public sector's greatest fear of Web 2.0 is really loss of control". 

Rise of the e-petition in UK

Some politicians are plotting an attempt to seize back dominance of the petitioning system in Britain - and hope the internet will prove the means to achieve their goal. At the heart of the issue is a struggle for parliament's ongoing relevance. At present it is Downing Street which has the bragging rights when it comes to petitions; it's no coincidence today's protest by hauliers, angry at the government's 2p fuel duty hike, will be delivering their petition to the prime minister rather than parliament. MPs would much rather they head to the Commons – and steps are in motion to do something about it.

ICELE makes nine recommendations for local petitioning

The Governance of Britain Green Paper (July 2007), said that petitions can provide an important way for communities to express their views and generate local debate, boosting the relationship between residents and councils. It also announced the government's intention to consult on people's right to 'call for action' and the strengthened role of councillors in that process.

The e-Petition system in Bristol City

Bristol City Council and Public-i Group Ltd, with support from Napier University, have launched a new open source e-Petitioning tool specifically designed for Local Government. The new service, which went live in January 2008, has already had over 8000 signatures and 5 new petitions.

eConsultation on ePetition in UK

In London, a Procedure Committee’s eConsultation on e-petitions has been asked by the House of Commons to propose an e-petitions system with the following key elements: Members should be engaged with e-petitions as they are with written petitions; e-petitions should be open for the addition of e-signatures for a certain period before formal presentation; once presented they should have the same status as written petitions.

7% of the British population have signed e-petitions

More than three million people have now signed e-petitions, one year after its launch on the Downing Street's website. But specialists are not convinced by its infuence on political decisions.

Discussion around the British e-Petition

The e-petition service of the 10 Downing Street passed two millions of signatures. Created in November 2006, in partnership with the association “My Society”, the system allows any citizen to address, to sign and to send a petition directly to the Prime Minister. But the system is getting discussed.

e-Petition, a good example of participative democracy

Participative Democracy is one the main topics in the French Presidential campaign. The French website NetPolitique publish an interesting interview of Ann Macintosh, who has created the e-Petition system for the Scottish Parliament and the German Bundestag.

e-Petitions authorized in French National Assembly?

André SANTINI had announced it in his closing speech of the last e-Democracy Worldwide Forum: he suggests, with several other members of parliament, an amendment of French National Assembly’s rules to open electronic proceedings of petition.