reslog

the site is going live again, after a while

2008-06-19T16:26:00.001+02:00

You know, new job, new projects, quite a bit of travelling involved.
I will keep posting, on issues related to new media and governance, both ways. That is, the regulation of new media; and new media and governance processes.
From the citizen viewpoint, most of the time. Happy to be back, wish me good luck.

10 internet and politics journal articles

2007-06-27T14:11:00.000+02:00

Another 10 for you, again tyding up my digital library.
If you have any papers in the pipeline, send a line and I’ll include.

Bentivegna, S. (2006). Rethinking Politics in the World of ICTs. European Journal of Communication, 21(3), 331-344.

Deacon, D. (2007). Yesterday’s Papers and Today’s Technology Digital Newspaper Archives and `Push Button’ Content Analysis. European Journal of Communication, 22(1), 5-26.

Hamelink, C. J. (2006). Rethinking ICTs ICTs on a Human Scale. European Journal of Communication, 21(3), 389-396.

Heller, M. (2006). New ICTs and the Problem of `Publicness’. European Journal of Communication, 21(3), 311-330.

Hermes, J. (2006). Citizenship in the Age of the Internet. European Journal of Communication, 21(3), 295-310.

Livingstone, S. (2007). The Challenge of Engaging Youth Online Contrasting Producers’ and Teenagers’ Interpretations of Websites. European Journal of Communication, 22(2), 165-184.

Mayo, E., & Steinberg, T. (2007). The Power of Information:An independent review (Independet review). London: Cabinet Office. Available from http://www.commentonthis.com/powerofinformation/.

Tuzzi, A., Padovani, C., & Nesti, G. (2007). Communication and (e)democracy: assessing European e-democracy discourses. In B. Cammaerts & N. Carpentier (Eds.), Reclaiming the Media: Communication Rights and Democratic Media Roles. Bristol: Intellect.

Qvortrup, L. (2006). Understanding New Digital Media - Medium Theory or Complexity Theory? European Journal of Communication, 21(3), 345-356.

Sousa, H. (2006). Information Technologies, Social Change and the Future - The Case of Online Journalism in Portugal. European Journal of Communication, 21(3), 373-388.

ICA internet and politics papers [part 1]

2007-06-04T08:46:00.000+02:00

Please find a list of Internet and politics papers presented on the first two days of ICA, in San Franscisco. I will post the second batch next week, as it takes a lot of time. Hoping to serve the community here… but first, a short message from our sponsors [read our paper!]:

Ackland, R., Gibson, R.K., Lusoli, W., & S. Ward (2007). Mapping ‘small things’ on the Web: Assessing the online presence of the nanotechnology industry. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Francisco, May 24-28, 2007.

NOTE: Papers’ full text is reserved to people attending the conference. But I reckon that if you are interested in getting a copy, a quick googling of paper title / emailing author should give you joy.

The Politics and Culture of Blogging

E-Relationships in Politicians’ Blogs in South Korea: Comparing Online and Offline Social Networks
Han Woo Park (YeungNam U), *Randy Kluver (Nanyang Technological U)

Doing the Right Thing Online: A Survey of Bloggers’ Ethical Beliefs and Practices
*Mark A. Cenite (Nanyang Technological U), *Benjamin H. Detenber (Nanyang Technological U), Koh Woon Kai Andy (Singapore Press Holdings), Alvin Lian Hao Lim (Youth.sg), Ee Soon Ng (Singapore Ministry of Defence)

Emergence or Affordance? Blogging Culture and the Question of Technological Effects
*Lucas Graves (Columbia U)

Are Political Blogs a Different Species?: An Examination of Nonelite Political Blogs
*Eunseong Kim (Eastern Illinois U)

Making and using online news: reports on the accelerating global news cycle

How Do Newspaper Journalists Use the Internet in News Gathering?
*Scott Reinardy (Ball State U), Jensen Joann Moore (U of Missouri - School of Journalism), Wayne Wanta (U of Missouri)

Immediacy of Online News: Journalistic Credo Under Pressure
*Michael Karlsson (Mid Sweden U)

Internet Impact on Traditional Media Use for News: 2002 and 2004
*Karen Michelle Boyajy (U of Missouri), *Esther Thorson (U of Missouri)

Online and Ticked Off? An Exploration of Online Political News Coverage and Hostile Media Phenomenon
*Lucy Atkinson (U of Wisconsin)

Mapping Code Politics: International Perspectives on Web Campaigning

The Internet and the Expansion of Political Discussion in Singapore Elections
*Randy Kluver (Nanyang Technological U)

Comparing Web Production Practices Across Electoral Web Spheres
*Kirsten A. Foot (U of Washington), Steven M. Schneider (State U of New York Institute of Technology), Randy Kluver (Nanyang Technological U), Michael Andrew Xenos (U of Wisconsin - Madison), Nicholas Warren Jankowski (Radboud U)

Code Politics: The Canadian Blosphere Speaks to the Liberal Leadership Race
*Zach Devereaux (Ryerson U), Ganaele Langlois (York U), Peter Ryan (Ryerson U), Joanna Redden (Ryerson U), Fenwick McKelvey (Ryerson U)

Disaggregating Online News: The Canadian Federal Election, 2005-2006
*Greg Elmer (Ryerson U), Zach Devereaux (Ryerson U), David Skinner (York U)

Organizational Networking on the WWW

Mapping ‘Small Things’ on the Web: The Pro- and Antinanotech Debate Online
Robert James Ackland (Australian National U), *Wainer Lusoli (U of Chester), *Rachel Kay Gibson (U of Leicester), Stephen Ward (Oxford Internet Institute)

Theorizing, Measuring, and Analyzing the Dynamics of Multidimensional Issue Networks
*Noshir S. Contractor (U of Illinois)

Establishment NGOs and Social Movement Partners in Strategic Networks: The Case of Fair Trade Coffee
*Kirsten A. Foot (U of Washington), *W. Lance Bennett (U of Washington)

Understanding Relationships Between the Internet and Protest Strategies and Frames in the Antiglobalisation Movement
*Cynthia Stohl (U of California - Santa Barbara), *Shiv Ganesh (U of Waikato)

Social Support on the Word-Wide Web

National Social Movement Organizations and the World Wide Web: A Survey of Web-Based Activities and Attributes
*Laura Stein (U of Texas - Austin)

The Challenges of Collective Action

Connective Collective Action Online: An Examination of the Network Structure of the English Speaking Islamic Resistance Movement
*Justin Lipp (U of California, Santa Barbara), *Michelle D. Shumate (U of Illinois)

New Challenges for Transnational Social Movement Networks: Studying Framing in the U.S.-Led Response to Sex Trafficking
*Bettina M. Richards Heiss (U of Southern California)

Government communication in Australia

2007-05-08T07:30:00.000+02:00

The book Government communication in Australia, edited by Sally Young, is out in May with CUP.
We have a chapter in, an ampirical account of all things ‘e-’ in Australia (e-government, e-democracy, e-participation, e-representation)

Chen, P., Gibson, R. K., Lusoli, W., & Ward, S. (2007). Australian governments and online communication. In S. Young (Ed.), Government Communication in Australia (pp. 161-180). Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

Long excerpt

At present, around two-thirds of the Australian public report having access to the internet, and its uptake has grown faster than previous information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as radio, telephone and television. While internet use occurs in domains other than the political, the impact of the new medium on the governmental sphere has been a subject of considerable theoretical speculation and a growing amount of empirical research. The internet offers decentralised and interactive communication possibilities and has dramatically accelerated the speed and volume of information flows. This creates significant opportunities, as well as challenges, for the institutions of representative democracy…

So time it is to get yourself a copy.

Darren Lilleker

2007-04-29T11:04:00.000+02:00

One liner to link to this new Politics, PR and Marketing blog, edited by Darren Lilleker [Bournemouth]. Pretty neat in-depth chronicle of politics and its communication in Britain. Refereshing.

Spanish MPs and blogs: 5.3 %

2007-04-22T11:19:00.001+02:00

According to recent research by Eva Campos Domínguez, not many Spanish MPs currently have a weblog. The article, published on the excellent Observatorio para la CIBERSOCIEDAD website, reports that only 5.3 % of Spain’s diputados have a blog, while a whopping [!!] 87 per cent have email. Apparently they do not like email in Madrid and in the Basque Country.

How come I’m not surprised by the low figure for blogs. Oh, and quite a few are in Cataluña, written in Catalan…

The article is in Spanish, and makes for a good reading. Enjoy.

The Australian public and politics online

2007-04-22T11:19:00.000+02:00

I uploaded a paper recently presented at the PSA annual conference [2007] to the publications section of my website.
Namely:

Gibson, R. K., Lusoli, W., & Ward, S. (2007). The Australian public and politics online: reinforcing or reinventing representation?. Paper presented at the Annual conference of the PSA, University of Bath, 12-14 April 2007.

Fears for the health of representative politics in advanced industrial democracies have gained increasing prominence in recent years with observers pointing to a growing body of evidence that citizens are disengaging from formal politics. One of the solutions put forward to address these perceived problems is the incorporation by politicians and parliaments of new communication channels such as the Internet and the WWW. To date, however, attention has focused largely on the supply-side of online engagement by politicians and legislatures rather than on levels of demand and actual use among citizens, with governments frequently being rated on their performance via international league tables. This paper aims to provide a ‘bottom-up’ perspective to the debate in the Australian context, looking at the e-democracy and particularly e-representation debate from the public’s perspective. Specifically we address two key questions: how much support do such initiatives attract? And can they bring about the mobilisation of less politically engaged groups? Our findings show that while Australians broadly support the roll-out of e-representation tools, current interaction levels are low. Secondly, while they may have the potential to engage some younger people in the political process, widespread mobilisation is unlikely.

Beyond broadcast. From participatory culture to participatory democracy

2007-03-28T08:44:00.000+02:00

In case you missed the MIT event, Beyond Broadcast 2007. Most video presentations , a few of the papers and notes from the working groups are online, with a wealth of additional material.

But what was it all about?

For 50 years broadcast media have played a powerful role in shaping political culture and mediating citizen engagement in the democratic process. Now a participatory culture is putting the tools of media creation and critique in the hands of citizens themselves. We invite you to MIT—to explore the means, the message, and the meaning of the post-midterm, pre-presidential YouTube moment.

That, is, if you believe that the internet and web2.0 support participatory culture, rather than self-expression. What if new media in fact support self-representation? What consequensces for democracy?

Myspace impact

2007-03-23T08:38:00.000+01:00

This is MySpace portal for US presidential elections. Not only that, however; it purports to showcase the use of the site for non-profit, civic and political aims, broadly defined. Very worthy, I hear.

But is there a dark site? Is this a nod to politicians? Does MySpace need protection? Why Presidential politics, at the end of the day? Giving a voice to disenchanted youth? Or capitalising on it? Said youth alreaady have a voice, sometimes strident, often abrasive. Take a look at Myspace, the undomesticated variety. Ot at Notapathetic.com. So why of why.

But that's orwellian me, I am sure.

–
Hat tip to Andy Chadwick for the link!

oppositional politics and the internet

2007-03-18T10:59:00.000+01:00

In the process of tidying up the cyber-desk, I stumbled across these two PDFs, defintely oldies but goodies.
Well worth a read if you are interested in protest, activism, oppositional politics and new media.

The first is
Oppositional Politics and the Internet: A Critical/Reconstructive Approach
by Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner

The published version is:

Oppositional Politics and the Internet: a Critical/ Reconstructive Approach
Kahn, Richard; Kellner, Douglas
Cultural Politics: an International Journal, Volume 1, Number 1, March 2005, pp. 75-100(26)

The second is
Oppositional and Activist New Media: Remediation, Reconfiguration, Participation
by Leah A. Lievrouw

Found in
Participatory Design archive - Proceedings of the ninth conference on Participatory design: Expanding boundaries in design - Volume 1
Trento, Italy
Pages: 115 - 124

Year of Publication: 2006

Enjoy!

Call for papers: Changing politics through digital networks

2007-03-02T11:46:00.000+01:00

Pencil this in your diaries, the deadline for receipt of the abstracts [500-1000 words] is 17 April 2007

Changing politics through digital networks: The role of ICTs in the formation of new social and political actors and actions.

5-6 October 2007
Political Science Faculty, University of Florence, Italy

Organized by:
Department of Political Science and Sociology (DISPO), University of Florence in collaboration with the Social Informatics Research Unit (SIRU) based in the Department of Sociology, University of York

Sponsored by: Information, Communication and Society (iCS)

Key note speakers include:

Lance Bennett (University of Washington, USA)

Donatella della Porta (European University Institute, Florence, Italy)

Tim Jordan (Open University UK)

Michele Micheletti (Karlstad University, Sweden)

It will address such questions as:

How can ICTs be best used to facilitate the formation of social and political identities?
Do the ways ICTs are embedded in new social and political movements contribute to change the sociological content of the relationships between them, their members and their constituency?
How can ICTs be best used to influence political processes and outcomes at local, national and transnational
levels? Theoretical and empirical works focusing on political and sociological aspects of such analytical dimensions as power structures, organization, technologies, communication, individual and collective
behaviors are welcomed.

The full cfp and submission details are available on the symposium website at:

http://www.york.ac.uk/res/siru/dispo/

2006 US election online

2007-01-30T09:37:00.000+01:00

Always a pleasure to re-broadcast material from the Pew - 2006 US election online in this case.

Twice as many Americans used the internet as their primary source of news about the 2006 campaign compared with the most recent mid-term election in 2002.
Some 15% of all American adults say the internet was the place where they got most of their campaign news during the election, up from 7% in the mid-term election of 2002.
A post-election survey shows that the 2006 race also produced a notable class of online political activists. Some 23% of those who used the internet for political purposes – the people we call campaign internet users – actually created or forwarded online original political commentary or politically-related videos.

In this case, their Report on 2006 US election online is accompanied by a brief summary and some commentary on the BBC Online, Americans embrace politics online.

Also read a piece in the Guardian, fresh off the press [and off my newsagent] today. Hillary and the Democrats choose web as the new deal, or so it seems.

Both of which seem to argue that effectively the Internet is making big waves in US presidential elections.

CFP - Understanding eParticipation - Special Issue of JITP

2006-12-13T10:04:00.000+01:00

Call for articles to be published in a special issue of the
Journal of Information Technology and Politics (JITP)

“Understanding eParticipation”

Special Issue Guest Editors:
Ann Macintosh
Åke Grönlund

eParticipation describes efforts to broaden and deepen participation in societal decision making processes by enabling citizens to connect with one another, with public officials and with their elected representatives using information and communication technologies. Processes involved include both directly political ones such as petitioning and consultations and indirectly political ones such as city planning processes.

eParticipation is an exciting and challenging research area, which requires a novel combination of technical, social and political measures. This special issue discusses the core and the borders of the research field by means of theoretical and empirical contributions.

Topics include but are not limited to:

Current and emergent eParticipation technological infrastructures;

Current and emergent eParticipation methods;

Criteria and methods for evaluation of eParticipation initiatives to be undertaken in a systematic and standardised way;

The business case of eParticipation: Drivers and barriers;

Theories and contextual analysis of eParticipation.

Manuscripts should have significant theoretical and empirical roots, preferably in both social/political science and IT, but should at least contain significant content in both areas.

Submission

Authors must submit an article to the special issue editors by February 1, 2007. Submission will be double-blind reviewed by regular JITP reviewers. Notification of review results will be sent out by March 30, 2007. Authors may be asked to revise their paper. Revised and copy-edited manuscripts must be submitted by May 1, 2007. For formatting and writing guidelines, please consult the JITP author guidelines at http://www.jitp.net/files/instructions.pdf.

The Journal of Information Technology and Politics (JITP) publishes individually- and jointly-submitted research papers of exceptional quality from any disciplinary background focused on topics related to the interface between information technology (IT) and politics. Research papers are theory-driven manuscripts, focusing on an important intersection of politics and IT and reporting substantial findings of interest to a broad community of researchers, practitioners, and students. We seek in particular manuscripts that provide cutting-edge theories, methods, and findings for the study of IT and politics. For more information, see: http://www.jitp.net.

Politics Online: Comparative Perspectives, Theories & Methodological Innovations

2006-12-10T21:33:00.000+01:00

EU COST conference in Moscow, 23-25 May 2007

Call for Papers

Politics Online: Comparative Perspectives, Theories & Methodological Innovations

Contributions are invited for two conference sessions devoted to recent theoretical developments in online politics and methodological innovations for investigating these developments. ‘Politics Online’ should be conceived broadly to include both traditional politics such as ‘top-down’ government-driven activities as well as ‘bottom-up’ citizen-based initiatives.

Session 1: Comparative Perspectives

For Session 1, comparative contributions as well as single-country case studies are invited, independent of geographical region. These papers may be either primarily theoretical or empirical studies. The site of the conference in Moscow provides opportunity to explore developments regarding online politics in post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and other CIS countries as well as China and Southeast Asia from the perspective of comparative post-communism. Contributions from elsewhere – including North America, Western Europe and other regions – are also welcome.

Petition Tony Blair

2006-11-20T00:15:00.000+01:00

Online, that is [and not for long, Gordon was spotted logging in surreptitiously...]

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/

Still rubbing my eyes in disbelief

Any thoughts, anyone?

Internet in the US mid-term elections

2006-11-11T12:14:00.000+01:00

Of recent, I have been doing a little, impressionistic survey of added-value Internet use in the 2006 mid-term election [you need to start somewhere!].

As the dust begins to settle, overviews of the digital election begin to surface.

A number of articles flagged the growing importance of Web 2.0 [some claim that ‘widgetry’ counts as Web 3.0, time shall tell].

In the Washington Post, Web sweeping election coverage [Paul J. Gough] provides an overview of big media players’ online offerings.

There is data from the Beving report, mentioned in a previous entry. Again on the more academic site [perspective, perspective!], you can read an article by Michael Cornfield and Lee Rainie, The Web Era Isn’t as New as You Think, published in the Post.
There are interesting prima facie accounts, from the inside, as in the case of Matt Stoller.

And there si commentary on the overall significance of the Internet in the economy of the election, as in the case of this review by e-politics team and of this article form Alan Rosenblatt.

Of course, you would expect some noise from the sceptics’ camp. Here’s one, The Neetroot election? Not so fast, published in The Nation. The gist being, ehr, not so fast, not so important after all. All wind and no sail for progressive bloggers, it is claimed.

In terms of novelties, yours truly has spotted the ‘exchange’ feature of the CNN website, where people could contribute to campaign coverage. The i-reports featured there deserve some close research attention.

Oh, and e-voting wasn’t very smooth, according to some…

Voting Tech Snafus Pop Up Early, But How Often?

A sampling of e-voting glitches on election day 2006

E-voting glitches disrupt election day

It’s election day. Do you know where your e-vote is?

The Internet’s role in political campaigns

2006-11-09T19:18:00.000+01:00

A short, informative study on the use of the Internet [specifically blogs] in 2006 Congress campaign, vis-a-vis the 2002 campaign. The study coners the e-campaign of senatorial candidates only.

From the Bivings report:
The Internet’s Role in Political Campaigns

We recently completed a study that assesses the utilization of the Internet as a tool for 2006 political campaigns. The study, a follow-up of the 2002 version, examined how 2006 senatorial candidates used the Web to publicize information about their campaign platforms, personal backgrounds, and volunteer opportunities. We looked at a number of Web campaign tools and made comparisons based on party affiliations, importance of particular races, and whether candidates were incumbents or challengers.

The results clearly showed that while Web use by political candidates increased dramatically since 2002, politicians are still failing to take advantage of all the Internet has to offer. Ninety six percent of this year’s Senate candidates have active websites, while only 55 percent of candidates had websites in 2002. While most candidates use a set of core Web tools, the majority of candidates are refraining from using newer and more sophisticated Web strategies, such as blogs and podcasts, on their campaign websites. Only 23 percent of Senate candidates are blogging, just 15 percent offer Spanish alternatives to their websites, and an even smaller number of candidates, 5 percent, maintain podcasts. In contrast, between 90 percent and 93 percent of candidates offered biographies, contact information, and online donations on their websites. It is obvious from these results that despite a general increase in the use of the Internet for political campaigns, candidates are still hesitant to pour finite financial resources into new campaign strategies.

danish party members online

2006-11-05T10:12:00.000+01:00

A fine new piece on Danish party members online, by Karina Pedersen. Not just because she refs some of the papers on party members we've written, mind you [read abstract, below; and read the paper!].

It would be intriguiguing to track whether and how the usual picture of active offline -> active online changes with the introduction of Web 2.0, especially in relation to young people. If my third year students are anything to go by, just give it time and the right sort of issues. We shall see.

Karina Pedersen

DANISH PARTY MEMBERS: PLUGGED OR UNPLUGGED?

Representation, 42, Number 3, pp. 223 - 233.

Abstract:

Danish parties have adopted new information and communication technologies (ICT) and thereby introduced new online party activities facilitated by these new technologies. However, the application as of 2000–01, the time of the party member survey applied here, is still limited and the online participation of party members is not substantially changing the character of party member participation. However, even though limited the application of ICT does make a difference. Most members who are active online are also active offline. Hence, party members attending traditionally party meetings – in particular officeholders – participate more online than other members. But some otherwise passive party members are mobilised by activities facilitated by ICTs. Hence, the application of ICT has an impact on the amount of party activity. Furthermore, the representativeness of party member activity is affected by the application of ICTs. When compared to voters and party members in general, the age representativeness is ameliorated, whereas the education and gender representativeness are exacerbated. In sum, even though limited, the application of ICT within Danish parties has an impact on the character of party member participation.

i-ways latest issue

2006-11-05T09:53:00.000+01:00

The last was an interesting issue of I-WAYS: Digest of Electronic Government Policy and Regulation. It includes overviews and updates on e-government form the EU [penned by Vivianne Reading], US, NZ, other OECD countries and post-confict countries.

Useful addition to my e-library, in terms of e-government discourse and praxis.

webcameron and the google generation

2006-10-27T08:32:00.000+02:00

This is making waves in the business press, so it must be happening. Quite a bit of talk about political and campaign uses of the web 2, in a range of EU countries. This is surprising, mind you, when Euro Barometer data keep telling us that people do not do politics online, as compared to the zillion things the use the internet for. Uhm.

Valuable, additional commentary on this trend is offered by Bruno Giussani, of course in The Guardian, by Tony Blair himself [the Google generation? is this a joke?]. OK, OK, more here on the google generation.

------

Europe's Politicians Embrace Web 2.0
Seeking new ways to engage with voters, European politicians have taken to blogging and podcasting to get their messages out

by Kerry Capell

Forget e-mail or personal Web pages. Engaging European voters these days requires serious Web cred. Just ask David Cameron, Britain's Conservative Party leader, who wants to be the country's next Prime Minister. Borrowing ideas from photo- and video-sharing sites such as Flickr and YouTube and social-networking sites such as News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace, Cameron launched his own video blog (www.webcameron.org.uk) on Sept. 30.

online consultation resources

2006-10-19T19:13:00.000+02:00

This is a Canadian institution helping other bodies run e-consulations, in the name of e-democracy. There is a link to papers and publication on the subject that could interest academics as well. Enjoy.

-----

Online Consultation Centre of Expertise

Who We Are

The Online Consultation Centre of Expertise is working to achieve a Common Technologies Platform for the Federal Government. We are researching common suites of online consultation tools and practices for online consultation, facilitation, and moderation. This includes emerging technologies that will benefit the cross-departmental consultation community as well as online tools that have been tried and tested in government departments.
We can help you:

* Choose the right online community tools for your consultation;
* Understand the processes involved in online consultation;
* Stay aware of emerging information and communication technologies.

eGovernment in the European countries – 6th edition

2006-10-18T12:22:00.000+02:00

Looks like a big e-governmant day. Here is another string of reports on the state of e-gov in the EU25 + 7 related countries.

---------------------------------------

EU: eGovernment in the European countries – 6th edition

The eGovernment Observatory Editorial Team of European Dynamics for the IDABC eGovernment Observatory

As part of its mission to inform the European eGovernment community about key issues of common interest, the eGovernment Observatory maintains a series of Factsheets presenting the situation and progress of eGovernment in 32 European countries: EU-25, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Turkey, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, providing for each one of them a wide and consistent range of information:

* Country Profile
* History
* Strategy
* Legal Framework
* Actors
* 'Who's Who'
* Infrastructure
* eServices for citizens and for businesses

These reports have been regularly updated since June 2005. The current version has been published in September 2006. Factsheets of Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Turkey, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are published for the first time in this 6th edition of the Factsheets.

eUser e-government research

2006-10-18T11:20:00.000+02:00

This website provides data, research and publications from the eUser project.
It provides both supply and demand data on e-government from ten EU countries. Well worth browsing around, and dowloading the data.

Public Online Services and User Orientation

How can we put the user of public eServices in the center of the designing and delivery of online public services and content?

The eUSER project will prepare a state-of-the-art resource base on user needs in relation to online public services and on user-oriented methods for meeting these needs. The project will use this resource base to actively support the IST programme, projects, EU policy and the wider European Research Community to better address user needs in the design and delivery of online public services.

The general focus of the project is on online "services of public interest" for which we will use the generic term "eServices". The specific focus is on eGovernment, eHealth and eLearning services.

e-government report published

2006-10-18T10:48:00.000+02:00

You'd be excused if you missed this, not much publicity I have to say.
I still have not read it properly, busy with teaching at present. But it looks impressive, the last in a long series of reports [and a book] on e-governemt by Darrell West.

Global E-Government, 2006
Darrell M. West, Center for Public Policy, Brown University

This report presents the results of the sixth annual global e-government survey performed by a team of researchers from Brown University. The survey measured the online presence of governments in 198 countries through the evaluation of 1,782 government websites on the basis of different criteria, including online information, electronic services (number and type of services offered), privacy and security, disability access and foreign language access. Among other findings, the survey shows that 29% of government websites offer services that are fully executable online, up from 19% in 2005. Generally, countries vary considerably in their overall e-government performance based on this analysis. The most highly ranked countries include South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Japan and Spain.

The PDF of the report is found here.

online survey methodologies

2006-10-15T10:55:00.000+02:00

Possibly this is of interest for PhD students in e-government, e-participation and related e-disciplines. That is, the ins and outs of doing online surveys. Oh, joy, if you ask me. But they are v. useful. read the bibliography, at the back, if you cannot attend.

-------------------

Contemporary Research Methods: Online Survey Methodologies

Ph.D. course at the Copenhagen Business School, November-December 2006

*-->> digital or physical attendance...

More information about the course here or from andersen_at_cbs.dk

*Aim of the course*

This Ph.D.-course enables the participants to understand and apply the
integrated processes of designing and conducting online survey research
projects. The course offers participants experience of dealing with
problems in the design of an online survey, the targeting of samples,
the construction of data collection instruments and the management of
online survey projects. The course also raises participants’ awareness
of main sources of error in the survey process as well as methods of
detecting, controlling and minimizing potential errors.

*Course content*

The course offers participants practical experience on application of a
research project in a multidisciplinary context. Participants are
expected to either take part in an online research project or designing
their own online survey.

The course will help facilitate the conduct of the survey by focusing on
key challenges on target population and /or banner, pop-up for
advertising the survey, as well as incentives for participation.
Students are expected to master basic descriptive statistics before
enrollment and have been introduced to research methods.

We will use the free of charge software Surveymonkey as an online survey
design tool. The software is accessible at http://www.surveymonkey.com

Completing the course, the participants will earn 2½ ECTS points.

*Lecture plan*

The course will run November November 13 from 1 PM to 3 PM, November 14
from 10 AM to 3 PM, November 20 from 1 PM to 3 PM, November 21 from 10
AM to 3 PM, December 4 from 1 PM to 3 PM, and December 5 from 10 AM to 3
PM.

Time/period

13.11.2006 - 1PM to 3PM
14.11.2006 - 10 AM to 3PM
20.11.2006 - 1PM to 3 PM
04.12.2006 - 1PM to 3PM
05.12.2006 - 10AM to 3PM

*Prerequisite/progression of the course*

The course will run November November 13 from 1 PM to 3 PM, November 14
from 10 AM to 3 PM, November 20 from 1 PM to 3 PM, November 21 from 10
AM to 3 PM, December 4 from 1 PM to 3 PM, and December 5 from 10 AM to 3
PM.

Completing the course, the participants will earn 2½ ECTS points.

*Suggested readings*

*Preliminary*:

Best, S. J. and Krueger, B. S. (2004) Internet data collection. Sage
University Paper 141. London. Sage.

Birnholtz, J. P., Horn, D. B., Finholt, T. A. and Bae, S. J. (2004) The
effects of cash, electronic, and paper gift certificates as respondent
incentives for a web-based survey of technologically sophisticated
respondents, Social Science Computer Review, 22, 3, 355-362.

Bosnjak, M. and Tuten, T. L. (2001) Classifying response behaviors in
web-based surveys, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 6, 3.

Bosnjak, M., Tuten T. L. and Bandilla, W. (1991) Participation in web
surveys: A typology, ZUMA Nachrichten, 48, 7-17.

Carini, R.M. et al (2003) College students responses to web and paper
based surveys: Does mode matter? Research in Higher Education, 44, 1, 1-19.

Coomber, R. (1997) Using the Internet for survey research, Sociological
Research Online, 2, 2.

Crawford, S. D ., Couper, M. P. and Lamias, M. J. (2001) Web-surveys:
Perceptions of burdens, Social Science Computer Review, 19, 2, 146-162.

Denscombe, M. (2003) The good research guide for small scale research
projects. Maidenhead. Open University Press.

Dillman, D. A. (2000) Mail and internet surveys - the tailored design
method. New York. Wiley.

Frick, A., Bachtiger, M. T. and Reips, U. D. (2001) Financial
incentives, personal information and drop-out rate in online studies, in
Reaps, U. D. and Bosnjak, M. (Eds.) Dimensions of internet science.
Lengerich. Pabst Science Publishers. pp. 209-220.

Hewson, C., Yule, P., Laurent, D. and Vogel, C. (2003) Internet Research
Methods. London. Sage.

McDonald, H. and Adam, S. (2003) A comparison of online and postal data
collection methods in marketing research, Marketing Intelligence and
Planning, 21, 2, 85-95.

Miller, T. W. and Panjikaran, K. J. (2001) Studies in Comparability: The
Propensity Scoring Approach. University of Wisconsin, Madison.

O'Connor, H. and Madge, C. (2004) My mum's thirty years out of date: The
role of the Internet in the transition to motherhood, Community, Work
and Family. 7, 3, 351-369.

O'Lear, R. M. (1996) Using electronic mail (e-mail) surveys for
geographic research: Lessons from a survey of Russian environmentalists,
Professional Geographer, 48, 209-217.

Pinsonneault, A., & Kraemer, K. L. 1993 Survey Research Methodology in
Management Information Systems: An Assessment. Journal of Management
Information Systems, 10(2), 75-105.

Porter, S. R. and Whitcomb, M. E. (2003a) The impact of lottery
incentives on survey response rates in Research in Higher Education, 44,
4, 389-407.

Porter, S. R. and Whitcomb, M. E. (2003b) The impact of contact type on
web-survey response rates. In Public Opinion Quarterly, 67, 4, 579-589.

Riva, G., Teruzzi, T. and Anolli, L. (2003) The use of the Internet in
psychological research: Comparison of online and offline questionnaires,
CyberPsychology and Behavior, 6, 1, 73-80.

Roberts, L. D. and Parks, M. R. (2001) The social geography of gender
switching in virtual environments on the Internet, in Green, E. and
Adam, A. (Eds.) Virtual Gender: Technology, Consumption and Gender.
London. Routledge. pp. 265-285.

Sax, L. J., Gilmartin S. K. and Bryant A. N. (2003) Assessing response
rates and non response bias in web and paper surveys, Research in Higher
Education, 44, 4, 409-431.

Umbach, P. D. (2004) Web surveys: Best practices, New Directions in
Institutional Research, 121, 23-38.

Zhang, Y. 2000 Using the Internet for Survey Research: A Case Study.
American Society for Information Science, 51(1), 57-68.

research: virtually essential

2006-10-10T10:25:00.000+02:00

This is a report from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and the Chimera group at the University of Essex. It tells us that online interaction is based on offline encounters, not far from organisations' geographical location.

Hardly hearth shattering, I see this as very much the first mapping execise while quite a bit of research is being conducted. So perhaps worth keeping track of the project. The project includes a toolbox for local activists.

The full report is here, below you can find a summary.

Virtually essential: why voluntary and community groups must embrace the internet
5th October 2006

People in middle of large At signIgnoring the Internet is no longer an option for voluntary and community organisations, according to a new booklet 'ICT, Social Capital and Voluntary Action' (download PDF - 1.6Mb) published today by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

It warns that failing to embrace information and communications technology (ICT) risks having their work overshadowed by those who do draw on this new source of 'social capital' - the reserve of goodwill generated when people interact. And though local ICT initiatives are taking place, the booklet says that the smaller online communities they create need ongoing technical and funding support if they are to survive.

The booklet was produced to accompany the second in a series of special seminars entitled 'Engaging Citizens', organised by the ESRC in collaboration with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). It summarises views from two experts in the field - Jayne Cravens, a leading researcher regarding 'online volunteerism', and Dr Ben Anderson, of the Institute for Socio-Technical Innovation and Research, at the University of Essex.

webcameron 3.5

2006-10-06T17:18:00.000+02:00

Hooray, found perhaps the first webcameron comment originating in da UK, from James O'Malley. And an interesting take, I have a dishwasher, now I only need 130K a year. But no kids to shout at.

webcameron 3

2006-10-06T17:05:00.000+02:00

And the french, and conservatives abroad, and Yahoo international news, and the Belgians...

Can it be that nobody in Britain cares? [lol, largely sardonic and alone]

webcameron 2

2006-10-05T21:52:00.000+02:00

Think what you wish of the guy, his blog is becoming cult, but the minute mind you. Try this tiny little search on technorati, but do not be overwhelmed. A post about the blog every 1/2 hour? Have I got it wrong?

There are those who claim it is a pioneristic example of use of the web 2 by politicians, those who track spoofs [gosh, it's been 48 hours, give him a break], the Australian ABC covering the event, a number of spanish bloggers picking it up, and catalans also, which speaks volumes to me...

As I said, it is everywhere. But the question really is, is it here to stay? Agreed, dull, but the question remains.

UK politics gets Googled

2006-10-04T21:30:00.000+02:00

If Reuters and the FT report it, it must be true... Google boss advising UK and world politicians that new media will make them all accountable, no place to hide. After Murdoch's televisions ending tyranny, new media moguls target elected politicians. Be warned.

Or not.

This nice article explores the very important question whether it is Google and politics or Google and policy. Or, whether the recent British whirlwind tour of Google's commander in chief is really about teaching politicians the power of the Net, to restore democracy, or more mundanely to have friends in the right [high] places.

Judge for yourselves, from the New Scientist Technology Blog, a nice take:

New Scientist Technology Blog: UK politics gets Googled.
It seems the CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, is taking an interest in UK politics. Today he met with Prime Minister Tony Blair before speaking at the annual conference of the opposition party the Conservatives...

webcameron

2006-10-03T19:25:00.000+02:00

In case you have missed this; yes, it is Webcameron, the blog, vlog and other online stuff of David Cameron, PM hopeful and technical whiz. No, seriously, the Tories are doing great on the web.

Only thing, it sounds worryingly similar to Decameron, you know, the Boccaccio tale of lust and corruption in Florentine high politics, which unleashed on the Principate a deadly plague...

But alas, title aside, here's an excerpt of the website's ethos:

webcameron: responding to comments

03 October 2006

Thanks for all the comments. Sorry for the delay in getting to the site with some replies. This is the busiest week of the year. I agree with a lot of what Voltaire said about party funding reform. On ..."

Read more on Webcameron, and watch the video, they are nice.

international centre for local edemocracy [icele]

2006-10-03T07:50:00.000+02:00

Not quite a new kid on the blok, one worth watching though. Amon other things, they helped organise the recent e-democracy symposium [you can download papers and presentation if you missed it].

UK Government launches international centre for local eDemocracy [from IADBC news]

The UK’s Centre for Excellence for Local eDemocracy has been transformed into the International Centre for Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE). Building on the success of the national project for local eDemocracy, initiated in 2004, the new centre aims to support and promote local eDemocracy across the world.

ICELE’s aim is to help local authorities improve two-way engagement with communities by providing best practice advice, support and practical solutions, focusing on the use of technology. One of its main tasks will be to gather information from around the globe on the most effective ways of using digital technologies to engage citizens in the civic and political lives of their communities.

study: eParticipation Research, a case study on political online debate in Austria

2006-09-30T08:12:00.000+02:00

In case you read German, this is a neat study on online political debate in Austria, by Christian Fuchs.

ICT&S | eParticipation Research: "eParticipation Research. A Case Study on Political Online Debate in Austria"

eParticipation is a term referring to the methods, tools, practices, and concepts of employing ICTs within politics, and is related to the tradition of participatory, self-organized democracy and grassroots communication and discussion processes. An analysis of the websites of important political actors in Austria showed that political institutions and parties mainly practice forms of representative digital democracy, whereas civil society groups seem to be more inclined towards eParticipation. A case study on eParticipation in Austria was conducted by analysing debates in a political online discussion board. The focus of interest was on interactivity, rationality, political identity, and political values. The sociological method of empirical content analysis was employed.
79,6% of the messages were assessed as interactive responses. Hence a vast majority of users in this case study has understood and practices the networked potentials of the internet. In most postings users avoided a clear identification with political ideologies, politicians, or parties (84,1%), a minority of 15,9% of all postings showed a moderate or strong political affiliation. A majority of 60,8% of these politically affiliated postings
contained elements characteristic for right-wing worldviews, especially xenophobic and nationalist arguments. A percentage of 68,8 of the postings was rational in the sense that arguments for opinions were provided. 73,0% fulfilled the validity claim of normative rightness. But within the remaining set of 31,2% irrational and 27,0% normatively false postings, insults, threats, prejudices, and hatred were heavily present. Political values that were of particular importance in this case study are economic efficiency, nation, home, equity, and democracy. There was a strong clustering of postings: A small minority of users (11,9%) posted each more than 30 messages and accounted for a total of 50,7% of all postings, whereas a majority of users (58,2%) posted only 1-5 messages and accounted for only 10,5% of all postings.

If you don't, here is an English version in PDF format which should do the trick.

The full ref is:

Fuchs, Christian (2006) eParticipation Research: A Case Study on Political Online Debate in Austria. Salzburg: ICT&S Center. ISSN 1990-8563.

Enjoy.

comunicazione politica: special issue on e-democracy

2006-09-27T07:17:00.000+02:00

I am very glad this is finally out. 'This' is a special issue on e-democracy published by the Italian journal Comunicazione Politica, Vol. 7 n. 1 2007.

It features articles from Mauro Calise, Philippe Schmitter, Francesco Amoretti, Rosanna De Rosa and a few others, including yours truly.

Here's the table fo contents:

What is (not) e-democracy
Mauro Calise

dossier: e-democracy

E-democracy and Eu-democracy: a Meditated Experiment
By Philippe C. Schmitter

Of Windows, Triangles and Circles: the Political Economy in the Discourse of
Electronic Democracy
By Wainer Lusoli

The Digital Revolution and the European Constitutionalisation Processes: EDemocracy
Between Ideology and Institutional Practices
By Francesco Amoretti

Weblogs and Processes of Formation of Public Opinion
By Rosanna De Rosa

The World Summit on the Information Society: exercises of e-governance between
Âplace spacesÂ and Âflux spacesÂ
By Claudia Padovani and Bart Cammaerts

Challenges and Opportunities of e-democratization in East Europe
By Mara Morini

Tools

Tra e-democracy ed e-government: definizioni e percorsi di ricerca
Monica Zuccarini

Book reviews

Rachel K. Gibson, Andrea RÃ¶mmele & Stephan J. Ward (a cura di) (2004). Electronic Democracy. Mobilisation, organisation and participation via new Icts.
FORTUNATO MUSELLA

Lawrence Lessig (2005). Cultura Libera. Un equilibrio fra anarchia e controllo, contro lÂestremismo della proprietÃ intellettuale.
TOMMASO EDEROCLITE

Perri 6. E-governance. Styles of political judgment in the information age polity.
ANNARITA CRISCITIELLO

Jayne Rodgers (2003). Spatializing international politics: analysing activism on the Internet.
MAURO SANTANIELLO

International outlook

Digital policies: overview of an e-volution
Silvia Bolgherini

Internet resources
Mauro Santaniello

You can read the Introduction here, penned by Calise, about what e-democracy is not. A few things, as it happens. The journal website includes all abstracts in English, and a link to the full text in Italian form the publisher's website.

The English version of my article [Windows, triangles and loops] can be found here.

citizen calling: an e-democracy initiative

2006-09-26T15:48:00.000+02:00

This is one of the latest initiatives from the Hansard Society and the Home Affairs Select Committee, in case you have missed it. Citizen calling, in a nutshell, tries to get young people think about crime and the Criminal Justice System, and feed their opinion using text messages.

This is 'Citizen Calling' - an experiment to see whether mobile phones are a good way for people and Parliament to interact.

The topic is young people and the criminal justice system. The Home Affairs Select Committee wants your help to define how Parliament and the Government should look at the issue.

Thought bubbles

The MPs on the Committee have set 5 questions for you to think about:

1. What are your experiences of crime in your area?
2. Are some groups of young people more likely to be involved in crime than others?
3. Which factors lead young people to break the law?
4. What can be done to discourage young people from committing crime?
5. How far do the public's opinions about young people and crime reflect reality?

The idea is that you use your mobile to send your views in as either txt, video, audio or image msgs. Here's more info 'about how it works'.

This is a great opportunity for young people in the UK and very important to the MPs.

Sort of what we have been trying to do with Criminology students here, only the medium was a dissertation... Maybe in medio stat virtus, we need to find somewhere in between 165 characters and 10K words as an ideal space for engagement. Uhm, I will give that some thought.

conference

2006-09-22T19:33:00.000+02:00

Quite a bit of e-democracy discussed at the World e-gov Forum, in Issy les Moulineaux, France. There are panels on citizen journalism and blogging, digital inclusion and open source solutions for e-government.

Anyone going?

research: log on, tune off?

2006-09-21T20:27:00.000+02:00

Today I've come across a new piece of research on the relation between time spent online, news browsing and offline political activism. Some highlights from the Maxwell Poll on Civic Engagement and Inequality:

Occasional use of the Internet to gather news, as opposed to frequent use or no use at all, is associated with higher levels of political activity.

This relation holds up across a variety of political activities, including contacting public officials (by any means), attending political events, contributing money, working in political campaigns, and even voting.

Occasional Internet users consistently reported the highest levels of participation; frequent users usually reported the second-highest levels; non-users usually reported the lowest levels.

A statistical analysis of all these factors considered together indicates that the association between participation and categories of Internet use holds up, controlling for age and gender. In fact, the association becomes even stronger when controlling for age. Controlling for age, for example, an occasional Internet user is 3.3 times more likely to report having attended a political event relative to someone who never uses the Internet, while a frequent Internet user is 2.1 times more likely.

Read the full article from Grant Reeher to know more. Decide for yourself regarding modelling, significance and variables included. Intriguing, as it both corroborates and challenges some of the research we have conducted.

conference: Italian Political Science Association [papers on e-politics]

2006-09-20T16:59:00.000+02:00

I think I should flag this for non Italians. This is the annual conference of the Italian Political Science Association [SISP].

Conference panels [for browsing]

Paper room [for searching]

Most papers are available for downloading. A number of works were presented regarding e-democracy and e-participation; some have to do with the role of the Internet in the 2006 Italian election. Some provide different perspecives on onine politics, outside the traditional Anglo-Saxon mould [I'm guilty as anyone else here].

Some perks below. Enjoy.

PANEL: Electronic citizenship: challenges and dilemmas
Organisers: Francesco Amoretti (Università di Salerno, amoretti@unisa.it) e Rosanna De Rosa (Università di Napoli Federico II, shine@netfly.it)

Session I:

Chairs: Rosanna De Rosa (Università di Napoli Federico II, shine@netfly.it)
1) Francesco Amoretti (Università di Salerno, amoretti@unisa.it), E-democracy and International Organizations Theoretical and Methodological Issues

2) Anna Carola Freschi (Università di Bergamo, anna.freschi@unibg.it) Luci ed ombre della policy italiana sulla e-democracy. Il possibile superamento del modello 'technology driven'

3) Claudia Padovani (Università di Padova, claudia.padovani@unipd.it), Arjuna Tuzzi (Università di Padova, arjuna.tuzzi@unipd.it), Giorgia Nesti (Università di Padova, giorgia.nesti@unipd.it), Matteo Cernison (Università di Padova, cinus@libero.it), The social life of “e-democracy” in the European web sphere

Discussant: Marzia Antenore (Università di Sassari, antenore@uniss.it)

Sessione II:

Chair: Francesco Amoretti (Università di Salerno, amoretti@unisa.it)

4) Rosanna De Rosa (Università di Napoli Federico II, shine@netfly.it), Processing e-democracy. Toward a substantial configuration of the living (e)democracy

5) Cristian Vaccari (Università di Bologna, vaccari@spbo.unibo.it), Informazione senza partecipazione: La comunicazione on line dei partiti italiani nelle elezioni 2006

6) Marzia Antenore (Università degli Studi di Sassari, antenore@uniss.it) e Laura Iannelli (Università La Sapienza di Roma, laura.iannelli@uniroma1.it), Opinion leader on line. Il ruolo dell’influenza personale nella campagna per le politiche 2006

Discussant: Mauro Calise (Università di Napoli Federico II, mauro.calise@unina.it)

PANEL: La comunicazione politica internazionale: temi e prospettive di ricerca

Organisers: Claudia Padovani (Università di Padova, claudia.padovani@unipd.it) e Alvaro Duque (Università di Torino, alvaro.duque@unito.it)

Session I:

Chair: Claudia Padovani (Università di Padova, claudia.padovani@unipd.it)

1) Elena Carli (Università di Torino, elena.carli@unito.it), New global e new media: un approccio comunicativo all’analisi dei nuovi movimenti sociali

2) Stefania Milan (Istituto Universitario Europeo e Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research, stefania.milan@iue.it), Risposte collettive a processi di communication governance transnazionali: riflessioni teoriche e qualche spunto empirico

Discussant: Andrew Calabrese (Università del Colorado, andrew.calabrese@colorado.edu)

Session II:

Chair: Andrew Calabrese (Università del Colorado, andrew.calabrese@colorado.edu)

3) Elena Pavan (University of Trento, elena.pavan@soc.unitn.it), Mismatching of publics? Internet users profiling for an efficient communication strategy

4) Alvaro Duque (Università di Torino, alvaro.duque@unito.it), Media watchdog groups and new forms of political communication

Discussant: Andrew Calabrese (Università del Colorado, andrew.calabrese@colorado.edu)

Session III:

Chair: Alvaro Duque (Università di Torino, alvaro.duque@unito.it)

5) Patrizia Laurano (Università di Roma La Sapienza, patrizia.laurano@uniroma1.it), Public e Media diplomacy: il ruolo dei media nel nuovo ordine mondiale

6) Chiara De Franco (Istituto Universitario Europeo, Chiara.DeFranco@IUE.it), L’influenza dei Network Televisivi Internazionali sulle politiche di guerra. Kosovo 1999 e Afghanistan 2001

7) Andreu Casero (Universidad Jaume I, Castellón, Spain, casero@fis.uji.es), The television construction of a ‘exceptional case’: public opinion and political strategies in the terrorist attacks of 11-M in Madrid

Discussant: Andrew Calabrese (Università del Colorado, andrew.calabrese@colorado.edu)

comment box not working

2006-09-19T20:27:00.000+02:00

I just realized that the comment page on my website [www.lusoli.info] has not functioned properly for some two weeks. If you tried to get in touch during this time, please try again [of course, of course I read all my messages not mentioning cialis].

Sorry, tehcnologies silly season.

a fresh beginning

2006-09-19T20:21:00.000+02:00

With the new academic season, time to update the site and the blog with some recent news. First, I will try and get a new picture on the site, the goatee has long gone to acquire a more sober look. Whatever, as my students would say. More to come on recent papers, presentations and publications. There a lot of ferment in the e-democracy / e-participation arena right now, I will try to track some relevant developments in the next few weeks.

To all of you: welcome back, and stay tuned.

Wainer

websiste update

2006-03-07T10:08:00.000+01:00

I have updated my static website, to include a section on teaching [political communication mainly], and more publications available in PDF format. Traffic stats are encouraging, thanks for visiting.

journal: electronic government

2006-03-02T09:31:00.000+01:00

This I had missed, it is relevant to those with an interest in e-government.

-----

Electronic Government, an International Journal (EG)
ISSN (Online): 1740-7508 - ISSN (Print): 1740-7494
Published in 4 issues per year

Electronic Government, a fully refereed journal, publishes articles that present current practice and research in the area of e-government.

Objectives

EG is dedicated to design, development, management, implementation, technology, and application issues in e-government. EG aims to help professionals working in the field, academic educators and policy makers to contribute, to disseminate knowledge, and to learn from each others' work through cutting-edge thinking in e-government. The international dimension is emphasised in order to overcome cultural and national barriers and to meet the needs of accelerating technological change and changes in the global economy. EG is an outstanding outlet where e-government research can take a shape of its own and results can be shared across institutions, governments, researchers and students, as well as industry.

* Up-to-date, leading edge research to keep readers ahead and maintain a competitive edge best practice in e-government
* Practical guidance on ways to achieve great effectiveness and efficiency in e-government development and implementation.
* In-depth analysis and interpretation to advance our understanding and provide a framework for further study of e-government.
* International coverage that allows us to share information, knowledge and insight on a worldwide scale.

papers: Modinet working papers

2006-03-02T08:25:00.000+01:00

This is a collection of papers [PDFs] on a range of subjects, including e-democracy, from Modinet, 'an interdisciplinary research program on media and democracy. The program focuses on the implications of globalization and new digital media for political life, for established institutions within culture and media, as well as for the everyday life of citizens in the future.'

Well worth bookmarking for future use.

Modinet working papers

Hjarvard, Stig; Kristensen, Nete Norgaard og Orsten, Mark: 'The War in Iraq as Covered in the News Media of a Coalition Country' Modinet working paper no. 13, 2004 (download)

Hans Krause Hansen, Dorte Salskov-Iversen: 'Globalizing webs: Translation of Public Sector e-Modernization' Modinet working paper no. 12, 2004 (pdf)

Anker Brink Lund: 'Niche Nursing Political Networks: Priming and Framing before Spinning', Modinet working paper, No.9. (pdf)

Theme Issue: 'Media Convergence, Mediated Communication, and the Transformation of the Public Sphere'. A selection of papers presented at the Modinet conference October 21st-23rd, 2003 - Modinet working paper, No.8. (pdf)

Christensen, Bolette: 'Organizing a social movement organization by means of the Internet: Deliberation or stageing?' Paper presented at the conference 'Alternative Futures and Popular Protest', Manchester, April 2003. Revised February 2004 - Modinet working paper No. 6. (pdf)

Hoff, Jens: 'E-DEMOCRACY IN DENMARK. Black clouds on a blue sky?' Paper presented at a workshop on Internet, Governance and Democracy in Denmark and Asia. Images of Asia Festival. Aalborg University, Denmark, 24 September 2003. Modinet working paper, No. 5. (pdf)

Christensen, Bolette: 'Constructing a Social Movement The Case of ATTAC: A Case of Constructive Journalism'. Paper presented at the conference: 'Making Social Movements' at Edgehill College, June 2002 - pdf , Modinet working paper, No. 1. (pdf)

Henrik P. Bang: 'Culture Governance: Governing Self-reflexive Modernity' (pdf)

Bondebjerg, Ib: 'The Social and the Subjective Look: Documentaries and reflexive modernity', paper presented at the Australian International Documentary Conference, February 2003. (pdf)

Hansen, Hans Krause & Salskov-Iversen, Dorte: 'Remodelling the Transnationsl Political Partnerships, Benchmarking Schemes and the Digitalization of Governance' (pdf)"

project: meetup.com

2006-02-28T12:14:00.000+01:00

Time to come out of isolation [and piles of various stuff] to spread the word about this, freshly found and very interesting.

This site describes the research and findings from surveys of those attending Meetups for presidential candidates John Kerry, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, and Dennis Kucinich as well as those for political parties during election 2004

It is data and analysis related to Meetup.com in the Presidental campaign 2004 conducted at Bentely College, by Christine Williams, Bruce Weinberg and Jesse Gordon . Well worth your time, if you are interested in the Internet and elections.

article: evolution of online campaigning

2006-01-24T11:44:00.000+01:00

MASS COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY
VOL 9; NUMBER 1; 2006

Evolution of Online Campaigning: Increasing Interactivity in Candidate Web Sites and Blogs Through Text and Technical Features
Trammell, K. D.; Williams, A. P.; Postelnicu, M.; Landreville, K. D.
pp. 21-44

Political candidates have responded to the public's desire to use the Internet as an interactive information source by creating their own online presence. This study is a content analysis of the Web sites and blogs of the 10 Americans vying to be the Democratic candidate for the 2004 presidential election. Focusing on interactivity, data indicated front pages hyperlink to participation areas such as Donation or Volunteer sections and rarely linked to external content. Blogs used hyperlinks at a rate less than Web sites. Interactivity was encouraged through text, as 83.7% of Web sites asked voters to become more involved. Blog posts discussed issues and attacked the opponents, including President Bush. For the most part, blog posts were personal in nature and used direct address. The tactical use of advanced Web site features showed a technological progression of political campaigning and an overall increase in interactivity through technology and text.

news: margot wallstrom's blog

2006-01-22T13:35:00.000+01:00

Came across this: the blog of Margot Wallström, the vice-president of the EC ! It has been running for a year. Need to pick up my jaw.

Surprise surprise the VP is Swedish. Not to her detriment though. What to say: well done.

article: the creation of the e-union

2006-01-14T14:29:00.000+01:00

Again digging in my bookmarks, I found this paper from Roger Darlington, on the import of the Internet for the labour movement and for trade unions. We used it in our paper on British TUs and the Internet, some time ago now. Re-reading it, it remains highly topical. Enjoy.

Roger Darlington
THE CREATION OF THE E-UNION: THE USE OF ICT BY BRITISH UNIONS
Text of a presentation made to an Internet Economy Conference at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics on 7 November 2000.

article: the internet and political participation

2006-01-11T09:52:00.000+01:00

This is directly related to my research interests. The paper distinguishes between the Internet for 'information' 'communication', and as a 'public sphere' in relation to citizen participation.

Reminds me of three main approaches to e-democracy: teledemocracy, virtual communitarianism and online deliberation. These were noted, over time, by Barber, Hagen, Dahlberg and, ehr, yours truly. Of course, different citizen roles are implied in these models. The article looks in detail at these roles.

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION
VOL 20; NUMB 4; 2005

The Internet and Political Participation: Exploring the Explanatory Links
Polat, Rabia Karakaya
pp. 435-459

news: EU says citizens must come first in next wave of eGovernment services

2006-01-10T19:33:00.000+01:00

When I read these glowing reports I generally reach for the salt. I recently renewed my driving licence in Italy. Mind you, in one of the most efficient regions. Four months? About it. Online? Forget it. Ah, but perhaps citizen-first online only applies to public services that were not outsourced...

Worth a read anyway.

--------------------------------

EU says citizens must come first in next wave of eGovernment services
IDABC eGovernment News – 19 December 2005

Commissioner Viviane Reding, the European Commission's commissioner on the Information Society gave a speech “Citizens first - the next wave of government services on-line” at the Forum Europeen de l’Administration Electronique in Paris on 15 December 2005.

Ms Reding stressed how much she welcomes the Ministerial Declaration as a landmark reference for the eGovernment Action Plan that she will propose in Spring 2006.

[read full text]

articles: journal of communication

2006-01-09T19:17:00.000+01:00

Two articles from the Journal of Communication. Not directly related to politics, but touching upon the resources required to participate online, personal and social.

JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION
VOL 55; NUMBER 4; 2005

pp. 721-736
A Social Skill Account of Problematic Internet Use
Caplan, S. E.

pp. 828-846
The Rules of Virtual Groups: Trust, Liking, and Performance in Computer-Mediated Communication
Walther, J. B.; Bunz, U.

news: presidents online

2006-01-08T17:20:00.000+01:00

Note that I did not say breaking news...
Was he the first webcasting President? I know fora fact that Queen Elisabeth II was the frist Head of state to send an email though.

---------------------------------

November 9, 1999

Clinton Takes Questions in a Digital Fireside Chat
By MARC LACEY

WASHINGTON -- Already the master of the rope line and televised town meeting, President Clinton took a technological leap into the computer age Monday night by becoming the first president to participate in a live Internet chat.

Read more

report: citizens, computers and connectivity

2006-01-08T17:09:00.000+01:00

Trawling therough my bookmakrs I found this, from RAND, an oldie but a goodie.

Citizens, Computers, and Connectivity: A Review of Trends
RAND: 1999

By: Tora K. Bikson, Constantijn (Stan) Panis

As computer and Internet use have grown dramatically, access gaps have widened rather than narrowed in the United States. This report uses Current Population Survey data from 1997 to update trends in computers and connectivity since an earlier 1995 study. It finds that there is a continuing “digital divide” between those who do and do not have access to computers and communication technologies. The division is significantly predicted by income, education, race/ethnicity, and — to a lesser extent — age, location, and possibly gender. The disparities have persisted over a period in which the technologies of interest have decreased dramatically in price (relative to what they can do) and increased markedly in user friendliness. Sizable demographic subgroups that remain on the wrong side of the digital divide may be deprived of the benefits associated with citizenship in an information society.

book: the new campaign finance sourcebook

2006-01-07T11:40:00.000+01:00

This has been in my bookmarks for a while now. It has one chapter and one appendix on the implications of the Internet for campaign finance laws, and viceversa. In the US.

The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook

Anthony Corrado, Thomas E. Mann, Daniel R. Ortiz and Trevor Potter
Brookings Institution Press 2005

See specifically:

Chapter Nine:
Election Law and the Internet (PDF)
by Trevor Potter and Kirk L. Jowers

Appendix:
Cases Concerning the Internet (PDF)
by Trevor Potter and Kirk L. Jowers
Updated January 2005

If you have more time to devote to online elections, also consult the useful companion website.

time it is to re-start the reslog

2006-01-07T11:38:00.000+01:00

New season, same aims. To provide a repository and source of Internet and politics links, thoughts and resources. Posibly linked to my own resarh activity. Or not.

Oh, and a happy new year to you all.

report: youth online in the us

2006-01-06T11:58:00.000+01:00

Report from the Center for Social Media, School of Communication at the American University.

Youth as E-Citizens: Engaging the Digital Generation
By Kathryn Montgomery, Ph.D., Barbara
Gottlieb-Robles and
Gary Larson, Ph.D.

Youth as E-Citizens: Engaging the Digital Generation provides a groundbreaking overview of Web-based efforts to increase youth civic engagement. Beginning with a close-up examination of website content, the report also examines the organizations and institutions creating that content, and the larger environment in which civic sites function. The full report offers:

--Case studies of high-profile sites' strategies for launch, visibility and funding; the online response to 9/11; and online youth activism.
--Discussion of the potential that websites offer to build lasting habits of civic involvement.
--Current developments in technology, regulation and law that raise urgent questions about the viability of the civic Web.

In addition, the project has created an online showcase of top youth civic websites. To see how they use the Internet to facilitate civic involvement and learning, take the Online Tour!

e-democracy conference [in italy]

2005-11-29T08:56:00.000+01:00

Last week was a very busy one. I was in Bologna on Friday presenting my views [and a paper] on electronic democracy at a conference titled 'Tools of democracy'. The conference was organised at the University of Bologna, Dipartimento di Organizzazione e Sistema Politico.

The programme was very focussed, touching upon recent developments in democratic theory [or the lack thereof] and innovations capable [or not] to revive 'democracy'. It was a theoretically thorough day, as Italian political science is one of the main contributors to democratic theory. I found myself looking in amazement at times, as models, concepts and constructs were handled with exceptional competence, precision and relevance. It is not often that this happens at conferences, for lack of time or for the prevalence of 'straw man' empiricism.

Will conclude on Lakatos here:

Mature science consists of research programmes in which not only novel facts but, in an important sense, also novel auxiliary theories, are anticipated; mature science, unlike pedestrian trial-end-error, has 'heuristic power'

Tools of democracy [Programma in italiano]
Bologna, 25 novembre 2005
Aula dei Poeti, Strada Maggiore 45

Ore 10

Gianfranco Pasquino
Universita' di Bologna
Introduction

Donatella Campus
Universita' di Bologna
Political communication and democracy

Daniela Giannetti
Universita' di Bologna
Deliberative democracy

Wainer Lusoli
University of Chester
E-democracy

12,30 Discussion

13,00 Lunch break

14,30
Pier Vincenzo Uleri
Universita' di Firenze
Referendum

Marco Valbruzzi
Universita' di Bologna
Primaries: a tool for better democracy?

Gianfranco Pasquino
Universita' di Bologna
Innovations in democratic theory

16,45 Discussion

website: law professors blog

2005-11-18T10:14:00.000+01:00

I have come across, by chance, the Law Professor Blogs. According to the blog, this is a repository of 'Resources, News & Information for Law School Professors'.

Why, oh Why there is no similar thing for politics professor [or more humbly lecturers and teachers]. Are we less opinionated? Less clever? Less showing-off? Less keen on technology [BINGO!].

A few people have tried:

ITP section of the APSA
Political Studies Association

But no 'bottom up', frequent and recursive forum, as far as I'm aware.

Anyone interested in taking this forward?

the intenret and the logics of groups

2005-11-16T07:37:00.000+01:00

I've seen a number of pieces coming out recently about the Intenret and the social logics of groups. In other words, how people use the Internet to 'get organised' in different domains of life. One, from Bruce Bimber et al, is reported in a previous post. Two more, from Beth Noveck and Stephen Coleman, are pasted below. Interesting and long-due developments I would say.

---------------

First Monday, volume 10, number 11 (November 2005)

A democracy of groups
Beth Simone Noveck

In groups people can accomplish what they cannot do alone. Now new visual and social technologies are making it possible for people to make decisions and solve complex problems collectively. These technologies are enabling groups not only to create community but also to wield power and create rules to govern their own affairs. Electronic democracy theorists have either focused on the individual and the state, disregarding the collaborative nature of public life, or they remain wedded to outdated and unrealistic conceptions of deliberation. This article makes two central claims. First, technology will enable more effective forms of collective action. This is particularly so of the emerging tools for 'collective visualization' which will profoundly reshape the ability of people to make decisions, own and dispose of assets, organize, protest, deliberate, dissent and resolve disputes together. From this argument derives a second, normative claim. We should explore ways to structure the law to defer political and legal decision–making downward to decentralized group–based decision–making. This argument about groups expands upon previous theories of law that recognize a center of power independent of central government: namely, the corporation. If we take seriously the potential impact of technology on collective action, we ought to think about what it means to give groups body as well as soul — to 'incorporate' them. This paper rejects the anti–group arguments of Sunstein, Posner and Netanel and argues for the potential to realize legitimate self–governance at a 'lower' and more democratic level. The law has a central role to play in empowering active citizens to take part in this new form of democracy.

-----

IPPR Paphlet, 11 November 2005

Direct Representation: towards a conversational democracy

Stephen Coleman

The problem faced by contemporary democracy is horribly simple: governments have come to believe that the public don’t know how to speak; the public has come to believe that governments don’t know how to listen. Faced with apparently ‘apathetic’ citizens, the political class complains about the difficulty of governing in a vacuum. Convinced that the political class is not interested in them, the public is increasingly pursuing a conversation in which politicians are outsiders.
It is ironic. Two centuries ago, democracy was regarded as a subversive aspiration. The disenfranchised majority clamoured for the right to participate, and the political elite resisted their claims ‘because their reason is weak; because when once aroused, their passions are ungoverned; because they want information; because the smallness of the property, which they individually possess, renders them less attentive to the measures they adopt in affairs of moment’ (Burke,1871). Now the roles are reversed. The demos are voting with their feet, bored and demoralised by the institutions and processes of ‘politics as usual’, while angst-ridden political elites are desperate to re-engage them.
[...]

journal article: internet, collective action and online politics

2005-11-10T12:05:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure if this was a long time in the making, but it is an long-due addition to the debate on the nature of collective action and the Internet.

-------------------------------------

Communication Theory
2005 15(4): 365-388

Reconceptualizing Collective Action in the Contemporary Media Environment

Bruce Bimber, Andrew J. Flanagin and Cynthia Stohl

Collective action theory, which is widely applied to explain human phenomena in which public goods are at stake, traditionally rests on at least two main tenets: that individuals confront discrete decisions about free riding and that formal organization is central to locating and contacting potential participants in collective action, motivating them, and coordinating their actions. Recent uses of technologies of information and communication for collective action appear in some instances to violate these two tenets. In order to explain these, we reconceptualize collective action as a phenomenon of boundary crossing between private and public domains. We show how a reconceptualized theory of collective action can better account for certain contemporary phenomena, and we situate traditional collective action theory as a special case of our expanded theory.

journal article: internet effects on participation

2005-11-10T08:36:00.000+01:00

This came through the post today; always nice when you know the author...

-------------------

The British Journal of Politics & International Relations
Volume 7 Issue 4 Page 561 - November 2005

Online Participation in the UK: Testing a 'Contextualised' Model of Internet Effects

Rachel K. Gibson, Wainer Lusoli and Stephen Ward

This article offers a new test of the mobilisation thesis of Internet effects on individual political participation using data from an NOP survey of 1,972 UK adults during May 2002. The analysis differs from that of previous studies in that it significantly widens the understanding of the dependent variable—online participation—as well as introducing new Internet-specific variables as explanatory factors for this new type of participation. Using this broader 'contextualised' model of online political activity we find support for the idea that the Internet is expanding the numbers of the politically active, specifically in terms of reaching groups that are typically inactive or less active in conventional or offline forms of politics. In drawing these conclusions our article joins with a growing body of literature calling for the re-evaluation of the so-called normalisation thesis which argues that ultimately the Internet will lead to a further narrowing of the pool of politically active citizens by reinforcing existing levels of engagement. At a broader level we consider the findings point to the need for scholars in the area to work towards a more sophisticated theoretical and empirical modelling of participation in the online environment.

e-democracy conference

2005-11-09T11:43:00.000+01:00

I was at the Headstar e-democracy conference today, presenting on one panel about evaluation of e-democracy projects [BTW, thanks to all participants for a fresh take on evaluating e-democracy].

However, the highlight was a memorable word match between a Cambridge philosopher and an Oxford professor. About the nature of democracy and the need of the 'e'. The [former] Sheffield legislator tried to moderate, but I reckon the enjoyed the debate as much as the audience did. Pity if you've left earlier and missed it.

journal article: local e-government in northern ireland

2005-11-08T08:45:00.000+01:00

I'm starting to trawl through older meterial, brace yourself for more, one-a-day.

-----------------------

Local government Studies
Volume 31, Number 3 / June 2005
pp. 307-320

Maeve Paris

Local E-Government and Devolution: Electronic Service Delivery and the Digital Divide in Northern Ireland

There are billions of annual transactions between citizens and government; most of these are between citizens and local government. Both central and local government share the same target for electronic service delivery: 100% of key services online by 2005. In Northern Ireland, however, district councils are being left behind on the e-government agenda. The Northern Ireland Assembly, currently suspended, has no provisions or recommendations for local e-government, although many transactional services of interest to ordinary citizens are provided by local councils. The absence of a strategy for local e-government means that district councils are left to their own devices, and this contrasts with the rest of the UK. A snapshot of local councils is used to assess the extent of provision of electronic service delivery, highlighting examples of innovation, and indicating significant challenges for Northern Ireland local e-government during a period of suspended devolution.

online politics Japanese style

2005-11-06T11:01:00.000+01:00

The other day I came across this rather exceptional bit of news implying that online elections are/will be soon illegal in Japan. Reportedly:

According to an article in the online version of Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Internet campaigning for the upcoming Lower House elections are prohibited by the Public Offices Election Law. Candidates may not update Web sites or report activities in e-mail magazines.

The reason, says the article, is that the Liberal Democratic party fears that online campaigning will "disadvantage parties with elderly supporters," and "the system could be abused to slander candidates."

Blimey, I thouhgt, this sounds harsh. Better ask the expert.
Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki, that is [try here] , who has looked at online elections in Japan for quite some time [e.g. read this, or this]. Here's the response:

Quoting from the GovTech site, it is true that "candidates may not update Web sites or report activities in e-mail magazines" during the 10- to 12- day period prior to an election. Candidates usually do one of
the following:

* Completely stop updating their websites for that period -- more than 50%
(About 10 to 15% of these candidates have a notice on their websites regard ing this).

* Take the entire website off the web (so you get broken links when you try to access the site). Less than 50% of the candididates do this.

Parties are allowed to update their websites during the same period, but are very careful to avoid updating "election-related" content. Most update current events and "political education" news items.

The second article states: "They're [parties] not even permitted to announce when candidates will be giving a speech or upload their party platforms." The first half of that sentence is true. The second half, however, is contro versial. It probably refers to the controversy during the 2003 general election.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, wanted to publicize its manifesto (election platform) on its website as well as send it out via postal mail. The government countered that this was in contravention of the section in the POEL (Public Offices Election Law), that prohibits the distribution of election platforms to an unlimited (uncountable) number of people.

Remember, the POEL was initially brought to enable *costing* of election-related materials so that an even playing field could be assured to all candidates. During this particular election campaign period in 2003, the DPJ eventually succeeded in having the POEL changed to allow them to send out their manifesto in pamphlet format, but the POEL has never been changed to address new media technologies such as the web.

Confusing? It's supposed to be.

Alway ask the experts. Put this way, it seems to me remarkably similar to what happened in the UK in the 2005 election !

Want to know more?
More on Japanese politics online.
More on poltical blogging in Japan.

report: poltical use of the internet in china

2005-11-05T08:13:00.000+01:00

I admit to having missed this, amazing study. But I'll set time aside to read [not implying though that you should do the same].

You've Got Dissent! Chinese Dissident Use of the Internet and Beijing's Counter-Strategies

Michael S. Chase
James C. Mulvenon

TOC

Preface
Figures and Tables
Summary
Acknowledgments
Acronyms

Chapter One: POLITICAL USE OF THE INTERNET IN CHINA

Introduction
The State of the Internet in China
The State of Unsanctioned NGOs Inside China
Use of the Internet
Measuring Success
Future Trends

Chapter Two: GOVERNMENT COUNTERSTRATEGIES

Beijing's Dilemma: Control versus Modernization
The Nature of the Chinese Information Security Environment
Counterstrategies
Measuring Success
Future Trends

Appendix: Dissident Web Sites

References

journal article: the media in the 2005 British election

2005-11-04T06:24:00.000+01:00

An article on the role of the media in the 2005 British election. Only three paragraphs about the Internet though.

Parliamentary Affairs
2005, 58(4):699-711

John Bartle

The Press, Television, and the Internet

IN the 1997 and 2001 general elections, New Labour triumphedat the polls and in the media. In 1997 it had received the endorsementsof six out of eleven national daily newspapers and been givenlargely sympathetic coverage in the broadcast media. In 2001it made even more progress among the print media, with the endorsementof seven out of the eleven. By 2001, however, its relationshipwith the media had became progressively more difficult. Theparty found it difficult to adjust from opposition to governmentand it quickly gained an unenviable reputation for spinning.Those at the centre, such as Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister’sPress Secretary, became increasingly sensitive to criticism.Their relationship with the BBC, in particular, became increasinglystrained. A Panorama investigation into the NHS, broadcast shortlybefore the 2001 election, caused particular resentment. As earlyas June 2001, the Deputy Head of BBC News was . . . [Full Text of this Article]

today I did not blog because...

2005-11-03T10:47:00.000+01:00

I was busy writing this. It is an introduction to a forthcoming issue of the journal Information Polity, about the role of the Internet in the 2004 EP election (edited by Nick Jankowski and yours truly).

The Internet and the European Parliament Elections: Theoretical Perspectives, Empirical Investigations and Proposals for Research

Abstract
This article reviews the existing literature on the study of on-line aspects of elections along three well-rehearsed theoretical frameworks: equalisation vs. normalisation, information vs. engagement, and mobilisation vs. reinforcement. It then examines the contribution of this volume to the field, first by direct reference to existing literature, then more generally, touching upon the notion of the ‘comparative’ – theoretical, geographical and empirical. The article examines the contribution of the articles, considered as a collective effort, in relation to the increasing specialisation in the study of on-line aspects of elections. Then the framing of issues and the evidence presented within and across individual articles is used to assess the import of the internet for election campaigns with respect to increasing pluralism, professionalisation, and audience activity (or the lack thereof). It will be argued that this theme issue represents a first, necessary contribution towards gaining a crossnational understanding of the growing role of the internet for electoral practice. The last section further elaborates on possible future directions of online campaign studies, drawing on the study of the 2004 EP online election.

Keywords
Internet, elections, European Parliament, political communication, comparative research

If you are interested, you can download a copy of a draft here, before it is published. Then you're certainly better off with a paginated copy.

book: internet politics

2005-11-02T17:49:00.000+01:00

Quite unusual in that the blog precedes the book.

Internet Politics: States, Citizens, and New Communication Technologies
Andrew Chadwick
OUP

This is sure to make a good and comprehensive reading about the Internet and politics. And a neat blog to match.

From OUP's website:

In the developed world, there is no longer an issue of whether the Internet affects politics--but how, why, and with what consequences. With the Internet now spreading at a breathtaking rate in the developing world, the new medium is fraught with tensions, paradoxes, and contradictions. How do we make sense of these? In this major new work, Andrew Chadwick addresses such concerns, providing the first comprehensive overview of Internet politics.

Internet Politics examines the impact of new communication technologies on political parties and elections, pressure groups, social movements, local democracy, public bureaucracies, and global governance. It also analyzes persistent and controversial policy problems, including the digital divide; the governance of the Internet itself; the tensions between surveillance, privacy, and security; and the political economy of the Internet media sector. The approach is explicitly comparative, providing numerous examples from the U.S., Britain, and many other countries. Written in a clear and accessible style, this theoretically sophisticated and up-to-date text reveals the key difference the Internet makes in how we "do" politics and how we "think about" political life. Featuring numerous figures, tables, and text boxes, Internet Politics is ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses in political science, international relations, and communication studies.

The blog is organised around the same themes as the book:

Ch 01: Intro
Ch 02: Concepts
Ch 03: Net History
Ch 04: Digital Divide
Ch 05: E-Democracy
Ch 06: E-Mobilization
Ch 07: E-Campaigning
Ch 08: E-Government
Ch 09: Global Info Society
Ch 10: Internet Governance
Ch 11: Surveillance
Ch 12: Political Economy
Ch 13: Futurology

[though this is from the blog, not the OUP website]

journal article: new zealand parties online

2005-11-01T17:59:00.000+01:00

I thought I would keep it to one-a-day, then I stumbled across this. The first piece on New Zealand parties online, as far as I'm aware.

------

An evaluation of New Zealand political party Websites
Information Research, Vol. 9 No. 4, July 2004

Matthew Conway
Dan Dorner

In a very short time, Websites have become vital campaign and communication tools for political parties around the world. This study examines the effectiveness of the Websites of New Zealand political parties, focusing on the functions that the parties were performing online and on how effectively they were delivering these functions. The research was designed to provide a quantitative evaluation of party Websites and to allow for longitudinal comparisons and comparisons between countries. Using a coding scheme that measured 50 different criteria numerically, providing for objective evaluation and comparison, the study found that New Zealand political parties were not using the Internet effectively, mainly because most were using their Websites for information provision, yet were not providing the tools required to make this information as accessible as possible. The research also found that the major parties were using their Websites more effectively than the minor and non-parliamentary parties, but the most effective Website belonged to the Green Party.

journal article: internet effects on civic participation

2005-11-01T10:05:00.000+01:00

This is remarkably similar to a recent piece from Rachel [Gibson], Steve [Ward] and myself in BJPIR, from a US angle. The issue of modelling Internet effects on political participation is becoming hotter by the day. Partly because, erh, it's not been done before? [and this sounds strange]

------------------------------
Communication Research
Vol. 32, No. 5, 531-565 (2005)

Information and Expression in a Digital Age Modeling Internet Effects on Civic Participation
Dhavan V. Shah, Jaeho Cho, William P. Eveland, Nojin Kwak

This article examines the role of the Internet as a source of political information and a sphere for public expression. Informational media use, whether traditional news sources or online public affairs content, is expected to foster interpersonal political discussion and online civic messaging, contributing to increased civic participation. Using two-wave national panel survey data, three types of synchronous structural equation models are tested: cross sectional (relating individual differences), fixed effects (relating intraindividual change), and auto regressive (relating aggregate change). All models reveal that online media complement traditional media to foster political discussion and civic messaging. These two forms of political expression, in turn, influence civic participation. Other variable orderings are tested to compare the theorized model to alternative causal specifications. Results reveal that the model produces the best fit, empirically and theoretically, with the influence of the Internet, rivaling the mobilizing power of traditional modes of information and expression.

book reviews: the government machine and cyberactivism

2005-10-31T08:29:00.000+01:00

Two reviews were included in the last issue of The Information Society. I can add my voice in recommending the first book [as I read it] but know nothing about the second. But that's what reviews are for.

---------------------------
The Information Society
Volume 21, Number 5 / November-December 2005

A Review of: “Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice”
edited by Martha McCaughey and Michael D. Ayers. New York: Routledge, 2003.

Noriko Hara

A Review of: “The Government Machine: A Revolutionary History of the Computer”
by Jon Agar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003.

Christine Bellamy

recycling and open source skills for e-government

2005-10-30T08:42:00.000+01:00

Now, two bits of good news in one day, I wasn't expecting that; as one is for the Italian government, I almost fell off my chair.

The first bit is about recyclying software in public admnistration, a portal that is. According to the press fanfare:

It is a ‘software bank’, encouraging the re-use of software and IT applicationsdeveloped or tailored by or for the public sector. Among other things, the portal provides guidelines for the re-use of software, methodological tools, a catalogue of re-usable applications developed by central government, tips for carrying out feasibility studies of software re-use, and a template for drafting re-use contracts. According to government estimates, software re-use could rapidly generate savings representing at least 10% of central administrations’ spending on software applications.

Apart from the saving [a chorus of 'who cares' was heard], it is just amazing that an adminstrator in say Turin will be able to use the same software as one in Naples. This, believe you me, is better than television in terms of cutural unification. Imagined political community and all that. Administrators of all counties, unite.

Which leads to the second bit of news. Not only sharing, but also open source innovation, via the Open Source Academy !! [I admit this is from the UK].

The Open Source Academy aims to encourage the use of Open Source software by local authorities throughout the UK, by demonstrating its benefits and by creating an environment where Open Source software is not only inviting, but also safe to use and adopt by all local authorities. It is also looking at best practice advice and guidance from those local authorities who are now experiencing the benefits of using Open Source in the development of their IT systems.

So, after all, public administration can innovate and share using the OS principles. Which has huge implication for traditionl Weberian [and not-so-Weberian] theories of PA.

conference: can e-democracy re-engage the public?

2005-10-29T09:07:00.000+02:00

A date for your diaries.
23 November 2005, quite a nice summary of e-democracy research in Britain.

---

Can e-democracy re-engage the public?

Wednesday 23rd November 2005, De Montfort University, Leicester.

Local authorities, encouraged by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, are experimenting with a range of electronic devices to enhance local democracy. But are these e-tools a solution to the problems facing local democracy, or a distraction from the real issues?

The conference will focus on the potential of, and limitations for, reinvigorating local political engagement through e-democracy.

Topics include: the prospects for e-democracy; the barriers to its successful implementation; the development of radical political movements on the internet; and the role of online discussion forums in developing deliberation. (See programme for further details).

[see participants below]

Attendance is free, but advanced registration is required.
To confirm your participation, please contact Caroline Laird [claird_at_dmu.ac.uk].

Programme

9.30 Registration/coffee

10.00 Introduction (Lawrence Pratchett)

10.10 Plenary Address

Prof Stephen Coleman (Oxford Internet Institute):
E-democracy and the question of power'

11.10 Coffee

11.30 e-Democracy under the microscope - contemporary research

Dr Lawrence Pratchett (LGRU De Montfort):
'Does local government need (or want) e-democracy ?'

Dr Jenny Pickerill (Leicester University):
'Radical politics on the net'

Dr Scott Wright (LGRU, De Montfort) and Professor John Street (UEA):
'Democracy, deliberation and design: the case of online discussion forums'

13.00 Lunch

14.00 e-Democracy in action - policy roundtable

Ian Johnson (Department for Constitutional Affairs)
Martin Vogel (BBC Action Network)
Ross Ferguson (Hansard Society)
Isobel Harding (Local e-democracy National Project)

15.30 Close / Tea

journal article: sars news reporting online

2005-10-28T10:01:00.000+02:00

Two articles that put the Internet and crisis news in perspective. The first has to do with the import of the Internet in news circulation; the second takes online news at 'face value' as an object of study. However you look at it, this bears testimony to the growing importance of ICTs in crisis communications.

ASIAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION
VOL 15; PART 3 2005

Media, Crisis and SARS

Between Global and Local: The Glocalization of Online News Coverage on the Trans-regional Crisis of SARS
Lee, A. Y. L.
pp. 255-273

Framing the SARS Crisis: A Computer-Assisted Text Analysis of CNN and BBC Online News Reports of SARS
Tian, Y.; Stewart, C. M.
pp. 289-301

book: the coming of age of the internet in politics and advocay

2005-10-27T10:53:00.000+02:00

You may have seen this coming out; it's about politics online, and more politics online, and even more politics online...

Crossing the River: The Coming of Age of the Internet in Politics and Advocacy
Karen A.B. Jagoda (ed.)

The political process is seeing the impact of disruptive technologies that are leading to dramatic changes in the marketplace of ideas and action. The book documents how attitudes changed about the convergence of the Internet and politics from 1998 through the 2004 election. Until only recently, the Internet played no role in campaigns as television advertising, direct mail and phone banks took the vast majority of campaign budget dollars. By 2004, candidates effectively used Internet tools for fundraising, persuasion, and mobilization. The focus of this collection of provocative essays and research from a broad range of leading political online strategists and Republican and Democratic insiders is on the most effective use of online tools in order to better allocate valuable campaign resources. Candidates, political strategists, campaign mangers, media planners and buyers, fundraisers, grassroots organizers, public affairs experts, Web publishers, political scientists, and entrepreneurs will gain insights into this new political landscape through the lessons learned and predictions from some of the political and advocacy online pioneers of the 21st Century.

journal article: exposure to online news

2005-10-26T08:17:00.000+02:00

Two interesting articles about online news consumption, i.e. how and why citizens use the Internet for current affairs; which, to be fair, still represents a small proportion of time spent online.

JOURNAL OF BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA
VOL 49; NUMBER 3; 2005

pp. 332-348
The Seeds of Audience Fragmentation: Specialization in the Use of Online News Sites
Tewksbury, D.

Contemporary normative concerns that the Internet might fragment national audiences and polities are based on suggestions that the medium is particularly conducive to specialized use. However, relatively little quantitative research has explicitly examined this contention. This study evaluates outlet specialization within the context of online news reading. Analyses of news viewing by a nationally representative panel of Internet users reveal that the user demographic profiles of news sites are individually distinct. More important, the topics that readers view vary by the sites they access. In sum, the provision of news over the Internet exhibits ample signs of outlet specialization.

pp. 296-313
Impact of Popularity Indications on Readers' Selective Exposure to Online News
Knobloch-Westerwick, S.; Sharma, N.; Hansen, D. L.; Alter, S.

Selecting news online may differ from traditional news choices, as most formal importance indicators in traditional media do not convert directly to online news. However, online portals feature news recommendations based on collaborative filtering. To investigate how recommendations affect information choices, 93 participants browsed online news that featured explicit (average rating) or implicit (times viewed) recommendations or no recommendations (control group) while news exposure was logged. Participants picked more articles if the portal featured explicit recommendations, and stronger explicit recommendations instigated longer exposure to associated articles. Implicit recommendations produced a curvilinear effect with longer exposure for low and high numbers.

journal article: online advertising in the 2004 US election

2005-10-25T09:11:00.000+02:00

This article claims that the Internet _does_ make a difference during elections, for young voters. But decide for yourself.

AMERICAN BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST
VOL 49; NUMB 2 CAMPAIGN 2004

DE/CONSTRUCTING THE MEDIATED REALITIES OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES, POLITICAL ADVERTISING, AND SHOWCASE SENATE RACES

pp. 265-278
Political Advertising in the 2004 Election: Comparison of Traditional Television and Internet Messages
Kaid, Linda L.
Postelnicu, Monica

Although television advertising remained a dominant form ofcommunication in the 2004 presidential election, the Internetreached new levels of campaign importance, providing voterswith information from candidates, the media, and independentsources. Internet sites not only provided online viewing oftraditional television advertising but also provided voterswith the opportunity to seek out additional information abouttelevision ads viewed on the Web. Drawing on theory and researchrelated to channel variables, this study compared the reactionsof young voters who experienced candidate advertising on televisionor on the Web. Results indicate that the channel really doesmake a difference. John Kerry’s ads were more successfulin raising his image and learning scores when viewed on theWeb with access to additional information sources. However,television viewing reduced feelings of political cynicism andalienation for young voters.

journal article: e-government and development

2005-10-24T20:43:00.000+02:00

Two interesting articles on e-government, one from Claudion Ciborra of LSE fame...

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND PEOPLE
VOL 18; NUMBER 3; 2005

pp. 260-279
Interpreting e-government and development: Efficiency, transparency or governance at a distance?
Ciborra, C.

pp. 280-299
From government to e-government: a transition model
Davison, R. M.; Wagner, C.; Ma, L. C.

journal article: alternative websites in singapore

2005-10-22T19:38:00.000+02:00

The Singapore one does not see [at least one I haven't seen]. Bu they sure have 20/20 at SiRC.

------

'Sites' of resistance: alternative websites and state-society relations

British Journal of Sociology
Ho K. C.; Baber Z.; Khondker H.
Volume 53, Number 1, 1 March 2002, pp. 127-148

Much attention has been focused on Singapore's attempt to use information technology to build a knowledge-based economy. This paper examines the implications of the unintended consequences of the Internet in the restructuring of state and society relations in Singapore. We use the data on Singapore-based and Singapore-related websites to show (a) the diversity of positions expressed by civil society organizations, fringe groups and even mainstream segments of society; (b) the negotiation process between the state and civil society over various rights and how developments in cyber-space have implications for 'reality'; (c) how censorship and content regulation itself is a more complex multi-dimensional process such that while local politics is regulated, the multi-ethnic character of the resident population has led to greater religious tolerance such that religious groups banned in some countries have found a safe haven in Singapore and have used the city-state as a strategic Internet node.

journal article: the cultural and social impact of e-gov

2005-10-21T08:46:00.000+02:00

this is a nice way to get going again with the blog. I was at three conferences in a row and had little chance to blog; it was more like coffee and a good old chat. Whoever said that blogs are a great tool to track events...

But here you are:

GOVERNMENT INFORMATION QUARTERLY
VOL 22; NUMB 3 (2005)

pp. 354-373
E-government: An analysis for implementation: Framework for understanding cultural and social impact
Evans, D.; Yen, D. C.

e-voting in estonia: results and comments

2005-10-20T09:07:00.000+02:00

Now, this was worth trying. But it did not work, frankly. 1 % of votes cast electronically is simply not a critical mass. Amen.

Municipal elections 2005

Registered voters 1059292
Votes: 502479
valid (e-votes included) 496345
invalid 6134
Turnout 47%

Number of e-votes cast 9681
repeat e-votes (more than 1 e-vote per voter) 364
Number of e-voters 9317
E-votes counted 9287
Canceled e-votes 30
E-vote turnout (voters/e-votes) 1%

But read the reports, quite a few additional insights.

Jason Kitkat was first on the ball; he provides a hugely readable essay on the topic.

This is a report with all the figures from the Estonian Electoral Commission. Laudable example of transparency, well done.

This is a sober commentary from Thierry Vedel.

call for papers: New technologies and News

2005-10-19T09:01:00.000+02:00

New technologies and News: Convergences and Divergences

A special issue of 'Scan', edited by Chris Atton & Graham Meikle

The study of news has always been central to the study of the media. But while the rise of new technologies such as the Net, mobile phones and digital TV has attracted enormous scholarly interest and has reinvigorated the field, there has not as yet been as much research on news and these new technologies as there might be. Some recent research has emphasised online journalism as a set of professional practices developed from existing journalistic philosophies and routines, though often privileging the dialogical nature of the medium to generate news agendas with media audiences (Deuze and Dimoudi, 2002). Other work emphasises journalism as a set of deprofessionalised practices that privilege grassroots 'native reporting' as a distinctive feature of an 'alternative journalism' (Atton, 2003). Such research highlights the potential of new
technology use to enable new configurations of news production, distribution and reception; new modes of authorship and audiencehood; new kinds of producer and consumer. This special issue of 'Scan' invites
contributions that are able to push forward our thinking about the modalities of news production and reception. We are particularly interested in papers that combine theory and practice to critically explore the claims made for the various manifestations of these practices.

Who uses online news? What do they use it for? How is credibility judged? To what extent are relationships changing between reporters and readers, between news outlets and consumers, in a media environment that can be customised? How significant are participatory news and discussion projects such as Indymedia (http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml), Wikinews (http://en.wikinews.org), OhmyNews (http://english.ohmynews.com/) or Slashdot (http://slashdot.org/)?

What of news values and news content? What contributions are made to the discussion of news by online art and satire projects such as Tenbyten (http://www.tenbyten.org), News Reader (http://turbulence.org/works/twotxt/nr-index.htm) or The Onion (http://www.theonion.com)? And what of blogging? The blog may be just as much the province of the professional journalist as the amateur and, indeed, the much-vaunted 'independence' of blogs is often curtailed by a reliance on dominant news agendas and framing mechanisms (Haas, 2005).

Answers on a postcard to...

Chris Atton
Napier University, Edinburgh

Graham Meikle
Macquarie University, Sydney

Submission dates and guidelines
Completed papers should be sent to the issue editors by 30 April 2006.
Refereeing and revisions to be completed by 31 May 2006, for a June 2006
launch.

Maximum length is 6,000 words.

'Scan' (http://www.scan.net.au) is a refereed quarterly online journal
of media arts and culture, hosted by the Media Department at Macquarie
University, Sydney.

References
Atton, Chris (2003) 'What is "Alternative" Journalism?', Journalism:
Theory, Practice and Criticism 4(3): 267-272.

Deuze, Mark and Dimoudi, Christina (2002) 'Online journalists in the
Netherlands: Towards a profile of a new profession', Journalism: Theory,
Practice and Criticism 3(1): 85-100.

Haas, Tanni (2005) 'From "Public Journalism" to the "Public's
Journalism"? Rhetoric and reality in the discourse on weblogs',
Journalism Studies 6(3): 387-396.

back at last

2005-09-01T17:29:00.000+02:00

Having been away for a while, it is good to be back. First, the big news. Today's my first day as Lecturer at the Department of Social and Communication Studies, University of Chester. The blog will therefore be brewed in Cheshire for some time to come; needless to say I'm very happy. I will teach at the intersection of politics and communication, with special attention to new media and the political.

I will post some more information on the modules I teach and about latest research later in the week; there's quite a few things to catch up with, starting from the Hansard e-Democracy conference in November, the forthcoming ECPR conference where Steve Ward and I have a paper, forthcoming data on the internet and citizen participation in Australia etc, etc. Plus a number of e-dem, e-gov and e-politics articles which have appeared recently which may be of interest.

It will be a hectic few months.

20 papers on Internet and politics

2005-07-16T10:27:00.000+02:00

An additional 20+ papers and articles on various aspects of Internet and politics were added to the resources section of the website. This is an increasinglily common port of call for student dissertations [according to the logs, anyway].

Good: I'll list this as ‘community service’…

Spinning the Web

2005-07-08T08:33:00.000+02:00

I was to the 'Spinning the Web' event on Tuesday 5 July. A very large audience, one mad activist, good chair [though they should be endowed with electric baton to dissuade mad acticists] and a few interesting papers I thought.

[oh, and I was the one pressing the arrow key during Steve's presentation]

There are various accounts of what happened on the night, from Lynne Featherstone MP, Bill Thompson [ paper notes] [presentation] [voxpolitics post], Robin Grant, the BBC online,

Being in such good company, I'll be excused if I don't give my own account. But you can read Steve Ward and yours truly's contribution to the report, if you are interested [PDF]:

Logging On or Switching Off? The Public and the Internet at the 2005 General Election

Data, data and more data

Make sure you read the full report, available from the Hansard Society website.

Politics makes strange bedfellows

2005-07-02T10:28:00.000+02:00

A short post to announce that the UK component of the Internet and Elections Project has come to full fruition. A revised version of the paper I presented at the AoIR conference, based on a report by Janelle Ward and I, has been accepted for publication in Press/ Politics.

Needless to say, both Janelle and I are very glad :)

The full ref will read:

Lusoli, W. & J. Ward (2005). 'Politics makes strange bedfellows': the Internet in the 2004 European Parliament election. Harvard International Journal of Press / Politics, 10(3), pp. forthcoming.

I will post the PDF to the blog as soon as copyright is cleared and the articles goes to press.

Internet in the 2005 UK election

2005-06-23T09:15:00.000+02:00

The ESRC eSociety and the Hansard Society have organised an event for the launch of their report ‘Spinning the Web online campaigning in the 2005 general election’.

The report, to be launched in Parliament on the evening of July 5th, will examine innovations and strategies the internet has brought into party and citizen-led election campaigns.

The panel for this event is:

Stephen Coleman, Professor of eDemocracy – Oxford Internet Institute
Steve Ward, ESRC Project leader – Representative Politics in the Age of the Internet
Lynne Featherstone MP – offering an insight into the online campaign as a new MP

Short presentations will be followed by an open-floor discussion. [read more from the Hansard website]

Steve and I have a paper in the report, about:

who used the internet during the 2005 election campaign

what the technology was used for

why some used it while others did not

patterns of change from the 2001 general election

the wider implications of these patterns of adoption and use for online campaigning

I will upload the paper to the site following the event. For now, you can read the abstract of report and paper.

journal article: Political Candidate Campaign Web sites

2005-06-17T07:28:00.000+02:00

Interesting article, althouhg I am unconvinced by the definisiton of text-based interactivity. Surely a text which indirectly invites a response, via first-second person and toungue-in-cheek images is _not_ interactivity, is it?

"Authors who write on Web style emphasize the importance of closely integrating the verbal and visual text in ways that are said to engage and hold readers' attention and keep them on the site"

Sounds more like 'engaging' to me, but alas, I'm no native speaker.

Decide for yourselves:

Effects of Campaign-to-User and Text-Based Interactivity in Political Candidate Campaign Web sites

Barbara Warnick
Michael Xenos
Danielle Endres
John Gastil

Department of Communication
University of Washington

Abstract

This study examined the effects on users of two forms of interactivity commonly found on political candidate campaign Web sites in the 2002 U.S. House election cycle. The first form, campaign-to-user interactivity, focuses on features or mechanisms used to enable or facilitate communication between site users and the campaign. The second form, text-based interactivity, focuses on how site content is verbally and visually expressed. Study participants viewed one of four versions of either a Democratic or Republican campaign website. Both text-based and campaign-to-user interactivity increased the amount of time users spent on the site and their accurate recall of candidates' issue stances. The co-occurrence of both forms of interactivity, however, showed a noticeably lower level of issue recall, confirming earlier findings that too much interactivity can interfere with user recall of site content.

Yale Information Society Project

2005-06-10T11:41:00.000+02:00

An interesting panel on politics and information, including full-text papers from Mosco, Drezned and Noveck. Must read.

The Global Flow of Information Conference
1-3 April 2005, Yale Law School

Yale Information Society Project

Panel 4: Politics and Information Flow

Daniel Drezner, University of Chicago
'Weighing the Scales: The Internet's Effect on State-Society Relations'

Vincent Mosco, Queens University
'Politics and Policies in a Networked World: A Perspective from Canada'

Beth Noveck and David Johnson, New York Law School
'Society's Software'

Saturday, April 2, 2005, 4:00 - 6:00pm

Politics shapes information flows, but is also shaped by them. Information flows can change the political dynamics both within countries, and internationally. Information flows can also reinforce or destabilize governmental and nongovernmental power structures. The flow of information made possible by digital networks can support new political coalitions, new virtual communities, and, perhaps, new public spheres. At the same time, traditional politics, through governments and international organizations, often defines how information, and what kinds of information, will be permitted to flow across borders. In addition, governments establish regulatory frameworks for information flow, control the various layers of networks and communications systems, and impose filtering strategies to control information flow. Some of these strategies work well, while others fail. Some help their societies, while others help oppress them.

Using the Internet, individuals and groups have created international communities that try to convince governments to ban landmines, stop genocide in the Sudan, influence the WTO and the World Bank, and to deliberate globally on U.S. and other elections. Conversely, governments have tried to modify or restrict what people can do on the Internet, and what information they can find, as well as imposing detailed regulations on mass media existing largely within their borders.

This panel will discuss how global information flows affect national and international politics, and how politics in turn affects information flows.

Questions before this panel may include:

- How do international institutions and governments attempt to control information flows in networked environments? How successful have these attempts been, and what are their unexpected side effects?
- Will digitally networked environments help undermine, or, in some cases, actually reinforce, authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes?
- How will the flow of information affect the power of relatively disempowered groups in existing national and global decision-making spheres?
- Will new information technologies produce a global public sphere? If so, who will be able to participate and how is most likely to be excluded? Will the global public sphere be coherent or will it be fragmented and separated by differences of language, culture and access to technology?

I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society

2005-06-09T21:55:00.000+02:00

New journal about the Internet, law and policy; much needed, I wonder how international this will be

I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society is an interdisciplinary journal of research and commentary concentrating on the intersection of law, policy, and information technology. I/S represents a one-of-a-kind partnership between one of America's leading law schools, the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, and the nation's foremost public policy school focused on information technology, Carnegie Mellon University's H.J. Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management.

* eRulemaking issue is now available on-line: I/S is proud to announce that the eRulemaking issue is now available on-line. Thank you and congratulations to everyone who helped made this premiere issue a reality.

Lead Editors

Peter Shane
Joseph S. Platt/Porter Wright Morris & Arthur Professor of Law
Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies

Peter Swire
Professor of Law
John Glenn Scholar in Public Policy Research

Ronald Gdovic
Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Information Technology and Society (InSITes)

Asish Arora
Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy

Managing Editor

Sol Bermann
Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies, Moritz College of Law

Editorial Board

Stephen Acker The Ohio State University
Allesandro Acquisti Carnegie Mellon University
Jonathan Band Morrison and Foerster
Kenneth Bass Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox
Jamie Callan Carnegie Mellon University
Jon Caulkins Carnegie Mellon University
Julie Cohen Georgetown University
Jennifer Evans-Cowley The Ohio State University
Lorrie Cranor Carnegie Mellon University
Susan Crawford Yeshiva University
George Duncan Carnegie Mellon University
Matt Eastin The Ohio State University
Dave Farber Carnegie Mellon University
A. Michael Froomkin University of Miami
Michael Geist University of Ottawa
Sheldon Halpern The Ohio State University
Rob Heverly University of East Anglia
Reed Hundt McKinsey
David Johnson New York Law School
Michael Johnson Carnegie Mellon University
Ethan Katsh University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Neal Katyal Georgetown University
Ramayya Krishnan Carnegie Mellon University
David Landsbergen The Ohio State University
David Lee The Ohio State University
Ed Lee The Ohio State University
Harry Litman Phillips and Cohen
Jessica Litman Wayne State University
Peter Madsen Carnegie Mellon University
April Major Villanova University
Edward Malecki The Ohio State University
Eben Moglen Columbia University
Benoit Morel Carnegie Mellon University
Lisa Nelson University of Pittsburgh
Beth Noveck New York Law School
Maureen O'Rourke Boston University
Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker McGeorge Univesity
Jon Peha Carnegie Mellon University
Rajiv Ramnath The Ohio State University
Joel Reidenberg Fordham University
Jeffrey Ritter Kirkpatrick and Lockhart
Norman Sadeh Carnegie Mellon University
Pam Samuelson University of California at Berkeley
William Scherlis Carnegie Mellon University
Marvin Sirbu Carnegie Mellon University
Michael Smith Carnegie Mellon University
Latanya Sweeney Carnegie Mellon University
Rahul Telang Carnegie Mellon University
Lewis Ulman The Ohio State University
Jonathan Weinberg Wayne State University
Philip Weiser University of Colorado
Jane Winn University of Washington
Alfred Yen Boston University
Jonathan Zittrain Harvard University
Marc Zwillinger Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal

Remixing Citizenship: E-Participation Research

2005-06-09T09:43:00.000+02:00

I snatched this from Roman's website, a hothouse of ideas (and film reviews for that matter).

Carnegie Young People Initiative - Remixing Citizenship: E-Participation Research
May 24, 2005

Carnegie Young People Initiative has invited Professor Stephen Coleman of the Oxford Internet Institute to write a research report on the relationship between young people, the Internet and democratic citizenship.

Remixing Citizenship sheds new light on how young people access democracy via new media. It argues that the nature of civic and political participation is changing and young people are the first to recognise it.

Remixing Citizenship draws on existing evidence as well as new research about how young people use the internet to gather information, express themselves and exercise power as pre-voting citizens. Its starting hypothesis is that much of what is offered to young people in the name of ‘active citizenship’ lacks appeal because it seems to be remote from their everyday experience and disconnected from the levers of power.
The research

The research was conducted online as well as face-to-face. A dedicated website: www.eparticipation.org.uk was set up and a group of 100 13-18 year-olds were recruited who agreed to visit various web sites and respond to questions about them in a web forum. Approximately 800 comments were contributed by these participants. Face-to-face discussions with groups of 13-18 year-olds year-olds were run in eight schools.

We are grateful to Chris Rowe for co-ordinating the research and for keeping the young people involved motivated.

Why was this report commissioned?

It has been three years since the Carnegie Young People Initiative commissioned Demos to produce Logged Off? How ICT can connect young people and politics. The report was a response to emerging policy and practice around young people’s participation at local and national level. It focussed on the opportunities of and barriers to of online participation .

Logged Off concluded that new technologies could only encourage greater participation if they were used to engage and empower young people. It argued that examples of good practice needed to be scaled up and repeated extensively across the UK, and offered practical solutions for taking the agenda forward.

This new report was commissioned to find out what has changed since then.

We are pleased to announce that the report will be launched on the 8th June 2005 at Channel 4. The event will be chaired by Millie Banerjee of Ofcom and Vice Chair of the Carnegie UK Trust. Speakers are:

* Stephen Coleman, Cisco Professor of eDemocracy, Oxford Internet Institute
* Adam Gee, Commissioning Editor-Interactive, Channel 4
* Louise MacDonald, Vice Chief Executive, Young Scot

information technologies for development

2005-06-07T08:48:00.000+02:00

A few resources on ICTs for development. First two journal articles:

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT VOL 11,2 (2004)
pp. 101-104
E-Government and IT Policy: Choices for Government Outreach and Policy Making
Qureshi, S.

pp. 141-160
Good Governance, Development Theory, and Aid Policy: Risks and Challenges of E-Government in Jordan
Ciborra, C.; Navarra, D. D.

Then a number of reports from UNECA, the Economic Commission for Africa.

UK election 2005 results

2005-06-05T20:35:00.000+02:00

A date for your diaries if you can make it to London on 5 July. All omens are good that it will be an interesting event: organized by the Hansard Society, convened by Stephen Coleman, it carries content form the OII and ESRC-funded research.

Hansard Society - Online Campaigning report launch
Wednesday, April 27, 2005

What role has online campaigning played at this general election ?

The Hansard Society has kept a continuous monitor on all forms of online campaigning. Following on from a previous Hansard Society report on the internet during the 2001 general election, and a joint All Party Parliamentary Group meeting looking at what the UK can learn from the US elections, the e-Democracy programme will shortly launch a new report focussing on the experience of the 2005 general election.

The report, to be launched in Parliament on the evening of July 5th, will examine innovations and strategies the internet has brought into party and citizen-led election campaigns.

new journal in the field of e-democracy and e-government

2005-06-01T22:14:00.000+02:00

If you are looking for a place to publish your e-democracy and e-government research look no further. I have not examined it properly, but it appears to encourage submissions from practitioners and academics alike.

The European Review of Political Technologies (ERPT) is a unique pan-european periodical bridging the converging domains of e-Politics, e-Democracy, e-Partcipation, e-Diplomacy, e-Citizenship, e-Governance and e-Government.

ERPT offers stakeholders and end-users from public, academic, civil and private sectors an exclusive forum to debate, exchange, inform, demonstrate, share best practices on current issues relating to research and development, policy shaping, novel concepts, applications, advanced technologies, technological innovations and successful experiences.

RAE 2008 : Over 900 academics selected to assess research in 2008

2005-05-31T08:48:00.000+02:00

News on the Research Assessment exercise front: the panels have been populated. The 'Communication' panel is especially interesting, read below.

RAE 2008: Over 900 academics selected to assess research in 2008
9th May 2005

The four UK higher education funding bodies have appointed over 900 experts to the 67 sub-panels for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The lists are published today (9 May). Sub-panels are responsible for the core work in assessing research submitted by universities and colleges, and making recommendations to main panels on the quality profiles to award for each submission.

The sub-panels are part of a new two-tier structure for the 2008 RAE. Each sub-panel is part of one of 15 main panels, which together cover the full range of research across all subject areas.

For Politics and International Studies (panel 39):

Chair
Professor Anthony PAYNE University of Sheffield
Members
Professor Christine BELLAMY, Nottingham Trent University
Professor Kenneth BOOTH, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Professor Chris BROWN, London School of Economics and Political Science
Professor Malcolm CHALMERS, University of Bradford
Professor Diana COOLE, Birkbeck College
Professor John DUMBRELL, University of Leicester
Professor James DUNKERLEY, Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London
Professor Iain HAMPSHER-MONK, University of Exeter
Professor Colin HAY, University of Birmingham
Professor Christopher HILL, University of Cambridge
Professor Stephanie LAWSON, University of East Anglia
Professor Michael MORAN, University of Manchester
Professor David SANDERS, University of Essex
Professor William WALKER, University of St Andrews
Professor Helen WALLACE, European University Institute

For Communication, Cultural and Media Studies (panel 66):

Chair
Professor Peter GOLDING, Loughborough University
Members
Mr John ADAMS, University of Bristol
Professor Martin BARKER, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Professor Neil BLAIN, University of Paisley
Professor John CORNER, University of Liverpool
Professor John ELLIS Royal Holloway, University of London
Professor Chris FROST, Liverpool John Moores University
Professor Justin LEWIS, Cardiff University
Professor Angela MCROBBIE, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Professor Maire MESSENGER DAVIES, University of Ulster
Professor Mica NAVA, University of East London
Ms Helen NORMOYLE, OFCOM
Professor Sue THORNHAM, University of Sussex

report: The impact of e-government on competitiveness

2005-05-29T08:42:00.000+02:00

EUROPA - IDABC: The impact of e-government on competitiveness

Complete title:
The impact of e-government and competitiveness, growth and jobs

Independent Research Report, 14 February 2005

Author(s):
IDABC eGovernment Observatory

Background research report published by the eGovernment Observatory, exploring the link between electronic government and economic competitiveness. The report reviews a number of key issues for Europe’s competitiveness agenda and outlines ways to leverage e-government as a key factor of to make European economies more competitive. It addresses the relation between ICT use, productivity growth and increased competitiveness, and reviews the main levers government can use to boost competitiveness, growth and jobs. Highlighting the crucial impact of public sector efficiency on competitiveness, the report outlines ways to incorporating competitiveness strategic objectives into e-government policies. This report is intended to provide a basis for further work and discussion on the economic impact of e-government.

Participation, mobilisation and the Internet

2005-05-28T15:03:00.000+02:00

I dug out a presentation I gave to Glasgow University about participation, mobilisation and the Internet. It provides a broad overview of my research interests.

Department of Politics, Glasgow University, 17 April
'Participation, mobilisation and the Internet Citizens, agencies, technologies'

Campaigning in the 2004 federal election

2005-05-27T10:33:00.000+02:00

Campaigning in the 2004 federal election: innovations and traditions
Research Note no. 30 2004–05

Dr Sarah Miskin
Politics and Public Administration Section
8 February 2005

Australia’s political parties proved they were not too set in their ways to learn a few new tricks—or at least a few new campaign techniques—for the 2004 federal election on 9 October 2004. With opinion polls predicting a tight race and political commentators alleging that there were large numbers of undecided voters who were open to persuasion, the parties could not afford to be complacent about their strategies to attract voters. In response to the challenge, they added several innovative measures to their traditional voter-wooing methods. As a result, voters accustomed to facing a barrage of political messages delivered via the mainstream media and the letterbox found they had to deflect a new onslaught delivered via the telephone and the Internet.

This Research Note reviews some of the innovative techniques of the 2004 election, including tele-marketing, e-mail spam and Internet campaigning, as well as some of the traditional techniques, including mass-media advertising and direct mail.

[ I think I've seen a PDF version somewhere on the site ]

2005 election online: a summary

2005-05-27T09:01:00.000+02:00

Time to take stock from what happened during the election on the Internet, and what needs doing in terms of further analysis.

First we did a tracking study of the candidates websites, looking at who had a site and who hadn't in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We also looked at how many had a blog, it was some 65 candidates at the last count. Results from that are sort of ready.

Then we content analyzed a representative sample of constituencies in England and Wales. The frame included measures for information and engagement alike. That will be ready by mid next week.

In addition, we looked at main parties' websites for a broader range of features. That should be ready shortly as well.

Then we run a public opinion survey, British representative, to see how citizens used the Internet for election purposes. The survey was in the field between 12-17 May; we just finished a first draft report, which will be released, guess when, next week.

In the pipeline: in-depth studies of a number of constituencies; interviews with campaign staff; and a lot of data analysis of the above. Plus reporting of results at conferences, writing up for various papers and chapters, and wine-spilling if someone is so kind to call us out to speak at posh events. But we may be too busy, mind you...

[I will be, but spilling summer ale, a recent, pleasant discovery; spring has come, even to springless Manchester]

report: Hansard Society - Members Only?

2005-05-25T12:06:00.000+02:00

About the communication of Westminster, including a section on new media.

Hansard Society - Members Only? report launched
Friday, May 20, 2005

Members Only? Parliament in the Public Eye [was] launched on 24 May. Members Only? is the report of the Hansard Society Commission on the Communication of Parliamentary Democracy.

Chaired by David Puttnam, the Commission examines whether Parliament is failing in its democratic duty to communicate with the electorate. The report looks at the need to re-establish the crucial link between Parliament and the people, and sets out a practical route for much needed change.

Click here for a full list of Commission recommendations.

Click here for the Executive Summary.

Judging form the recommendation document, a bit thin as concerns new media broadly defined; recommentations limited to the Parliament website:

R15 A new Communications Department should establish effective processes to
manage, edit, develop and continually update the parliamentary website.

R16 The parliamentary website should be radically improved. At a minimum, it
should be consultative, interactive and easily navigable.

R17 An improved website should engage the widest range of citizens, using well-designed publicity and targeted advertising to help people understand that
there is a virtual route through which they have easy access to their Parliament

The tip of the iceberg I would have thought; but surely there is more in the full report.

journal article: e-government

2005-05-25T08:57:00.000+02:00

this should keep you busy for a while; I'll need to dash to the library before it's snatched up. oh, and I mean the lse library, which has an impressive collection. well worth a visit if you are in London.

ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT
VOL 2; NUMB 1 (2005)

pp. 1-10
Facilitating cross-boundary leadership in emerging e-government leaders
McDaniel, E. A.

pp. 11-25
E-government: key success factors for value discovery and realisation
Chircu, A. M.; Lee, D. H.-D.

pp. 56-76
E-government application at local level: issues and challenges: an empirical study
Yang, J.; Paul, S.

pp. 77-86
A conceptual analysis of knowledge management in e-government
Metaxiotis, K.; Psarras, J.