Last time we saw that the term e-governance is used to refer to the application of information technology in enhancing citizen participation in government and that this focus on the citizen’s role in the process of government distinguishes e-governance from e-government which is concerned primarily with automating the delivery of governments services. A concept of e-democracy is also emerging in which IT is used to foster and entrench those important principles generally associated with all democratic societies i.e. accountability, transparency, public participation in decision-making and adherence to the rule of law.
Some of these concepts are lofty and idealistic and it will take time for them to become reality in most countries, many of which are still trying to grapple with basic issues of streamlining and modernizing their government services. In fact only a few developed countries have been able to make any strides worthy of mention in developing e-governance mechanisms and the experience at this stage has already resulted in emergence of caution flags pointing to the dangers of proceeding too fast and warning against over-exuberance.
The Official website of the British Prime Minister
There is an official website of the British Prime Minister and the incumbent Mr Anthony Blair makes very good use of it as a means of keeping in touch with citizens. Readers can access this website at http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page1.asp to observe its content. The site is fairly new, the current beta version having been launched in November 2006. It has a wealth of information on current policy issues and there is an interesting feature whereby the Prime Minister can be electronically petitioned on any pending government policy decision. Petitions are traditionally sent to the British Prime Minister by post or delivered to the door of Number 10 Downing Street in person. They can now be created and signed on this website giving their organizers the opportunity to reach a potentially wider audience and to deliver the petition directly to the PM.
In a recent petition the Guardian of March 8 reported that over 1.8 million persons electronically attached their signatures demanding an end to congestion charging plans which propose to institute a charge of around five pounds sterling on motorists entering certain zones of central London. Several other British cities are contemplating instituting similar schemes in an effort to alleviate chronic and increasing problems of traffic congestion. Guyanese, particularly residents of Georgetown and its environs may wish to monitor how this issue progresses in view of our own traffic situation which is rapidly deteriorating by the day. The UK issue demonstrates clearly the effect of the Internet and its potential to shape opinion and influence policy in that the British Prime Minister felt obliged to personally respond by e-mail to each of the signatories.
This has caused concern in some quarters that the “electronic lobby” so to speak can develop into a mechanism that actually threatens rather than enhances democracy. MPs in particular were very critical of the development warning of a potential danger of undermining representative democracy and the role of MPs within it. Some went even further making reference to an attempt to promote a quasi-presidential system in the UK by going directly to the executive and ignoring the local MP.
Registering Civic Complaints
A second equally interesting but far less contentious example of applying information technology in governance matters in the UK is the Neighbourhood Fix It programme www.neighbourhoodfixit.com. The aims of this site is to make reporting of local issues a more democratic affair since as the founders claim, few mechanisms exist for the public to see what problems have been reported to councils and how much has been done to fix them. Basically, a citizen having noticed a problem such as a broken main or damaged foot-path, can simply log on to the website and enter the street name or the area postcode to cause the relevant portion of the area map to appear on the screen.
The citizen can then make a report by clicking on the map at the exact location of the problem. As a spin off, citizens also can view problems already reported in that area, see what action has been taken if any, and give valuable feedback in the form of their own comments, observations and opinions.
Other Examples
A significant amount of work is in progress in the UK as well as countries such as Canada and of course Singapore on using ICTs to enhance good governance and these developments need to be noted as we ourselves seek to implement e-systems to improve our government services. Further using the UK as an example, readers are encouraged to visit http://www.theyworkforyou.com a non-partisan website run by a charity which aims to make it easy for people to keep tabs on their elected and unelected representatives and officials in Parliament, and other assemblies as well as http://www.writetothem.com/ which gives the public a means of contacting their Councilors, MPs, MEPs, MSPs, or Northern Ireland, Welsh and London elected officials.
Automating government services (e-government) falls within the realm of hard systems i.e. the problems are usually well defined and the objectives clear and agreed by most if not all stakeholders. Promoting citizen participation in government policy decision-making is a much more difficult proposition (soft system) where objectives are far from clear and diverse views, opinions and agendas can exist among the different stakeholders (e.g. between the government and opposition).
In implementing e-governance structures therefore, each country will have to use and apply information technology in a manner that is consistent with its own culture and circumstances. What works in one country may cause great discomfort and be totally unacceptable in another. In our situation the Minister like the Pope is infallible and a website for example, created to provide feedback by permitting citizens to query and criticize ministerial action will invariably be deemed as hostile and anti-government, irrespective of how laudable and well meaning the intentions of the site’s creators or contributors.
The ability to embrace and tolerate differing and dissenting views and to examine them with an open mind and evaluate their merit is perhaps a function of political maturity. In time to come as the Calypsonian Crazy says, we may attain that level of sophistication where creative and innovative application of information technology can freely be allowed to foster an environment for meaningful online citizen participation in the strengthening of our democratic norms and institutions.