Internet i la participació ciutadana en la presa de decisions públiques: el cas de Consensus, ciutadans en xarxa

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) incorporation into politics has introduced fundamental changes in democratic political systems. ICTs also impact in new citizen participative practices in public decision-making, where it can provide technical assistance improving channels of information, communication, deliberation and participation in decision-making. This paper exposes the main conclusions of a research that explores the contributions that Internet can introduce into citizen participation in public decision-making impulsed by public administrations. The analysis is focused on local administrations in Catalonia, one of the Autonomous communities with more electronic initiatives in Spain. It takes as object of study the Internet citizen e-Participation platform Consensus, ciutadans en xarxa (Consensus, citizens in network) (www.e-consensus.org), functioning in 24 Catalan municipalities. The study points out that even though the Internet has the potentiality of facilitating citizen participation, e-Participation is minor than the off-line one and does not entails the increase of participation levels. Thus, it is still soon to only electronic processes, being very positive the Internet incorporation into off line citizen participation experiences.