British MPs are still failing to use the internet to establish two-way dialogue with citizens, the author of a new national study on the topic has told E-Government Bulletin.
The study, ‘Digital citizens and democratic participation’ ( http://bit.ly/9hCXMU ),was carried out by Andy Williamson, director of the eDemocracy Programme at parliamentary charity the Hansard Society. The report builds on an earlier Hansard Society publication from February 2009: ‘MPs online: connecting with constituents’ ( http://bit.ly/bNnPlP ).
The 2009 report found that the vast majority of MPs do use digital media to communicate with citizens in some way, but that most of these used the internet purely as a broadcast channel, rather than for two-way communication. The new report finds that in the intervening time, little has changed, with politicians retaining a “passive relationship” with constituents, Williamson told E-Government Bulletin.
“There’s a feeling that [citizens] would like to engage better with politicians, but they feel that politicians are still stuck in broadcast mode. People don’t want that – they want a more active relationship”, he said.
Williamson said the recent trend towards “open data”, the freeing up of publicly held information, was another key to encouraging online public communication with Parliament. MPs should also be using social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook, not only to engage with citizens but also to keep up-to-date with their areas of interest, the report finds.
Hansard Society researchers contacted two sample groups of citizens: around 2,000 general internet users, and 58 ‘digital leaders’ – individuals who already had a high interest in social media and politics.
NOTE: Article originally published in E-Government Bulletin issue 306.
Click here to visit/return to issue 306 index
Tristan, you point to some important issues. Politicians being active in social networks could result in citizens getting a closer view of the day-to-day work of MPs. However, if as you say they are “stuck in broadcast-mode” the opportunity of MPs connecting with citizens and learning about “the real world” is lost.
As part of the Sunshine Week, an open forum will be held on http://www.Talkstandards.com on March 18, 4 pm GMT discussing the importance of setting ICT standards for increasing accessibility to public data and services. The issue of participatory government and MP-citizen interaction is certainly one of the important subjects of today and is surely to be discussed at the event. //Mattias Ganslandt