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Articles and talks Electronic democracy - connecting with government...and each other Louise Ferguson, October 1999 [The following piece appeared following the autonomous government elections in Spain in 1999. Autonomous or regional government has a much higher profile and much greater powers in Spain than in the UK.] What happens now the elections are over? Should politicians just be allowed to go away and do what they please for the next four years? Or shold they be accountable throughout their term of office? Citizens involved in the electronic democracy movement around the world would definitely vote yes for permanent transparency and accountability. The Internet is an ideal vehicle for enabling transparency in government. Parliamentary bills and proposed regulations can easily be made available on-line, and citizens can rapidly fire off opinions and complaints to their parliamentary and other democratic representatives. Grass-roots campaigns can be launched and spread, the opinions of others sought. This is the idea underpinning the electronic democracy movement, which in its Catalonian version goes under the name of Democracia Web. This fairly basic website aims to provide information and promote debate, increasing itizens' participation in the democratic process. Behind the project are the Jaume Bofill Foundation and Catalonia's Universitat Obert [open university]. The site has two areas, the first a multi-lingual one (Catalan, Spanish and English) which aims to promote discussion about innovations in democracy, and ways of developing electronic democracy in particular, and the second (Catalan-only) dealing directly with the day-to-day activity of the Catalonian parliament. The full texts of parliamentary bills currently under consideration are placed on the site, with citizens able to send in their opinions to parliamentary groups while the bills are still under discussion. When the Catalonian elections were called, paliament was considering a bill to prohibit waste incineration - a bill that reached the chamber as the result of a 65,000-signature petition. Well-developed websites such as the e-the people (US) and UK Citizens' On Line Democracy offer the wide range of participation alternatives not available on the more 'official' sites. For example, e-the people holds the contact details for around 170,000 local, state and federal officials, and offers the chance to start up petitions or join existing ones. In this kind of forum, it is citizens who set the agenda. A world away from Barcelona's "La cuitat que volem", a publicity stunt that seems to have died a death one the municipal elections were over. Democracia Web can be found at: http://www.democraciaweb.org
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