Does e-participation influence and improve political decission making processes? Evidence from a local government

Abstract

This article examines the potential of digital technologies as instruments for enhancing citizens’ political participation and as a means of experimenting with the establishment of new democratic practices and institutions, identifying the local government level as an ideal arena for such experimentation. To this end, two complementary approaches are adopted: first, a theoretical discussion grounded in an extensive literature review; and second, a qualitative, exploratory case study of the electronic participation and e-democracy initiatives spearheaded by the Madrid City Council. These initiatives represented a world-leading project in terms of scale, openness, and binding character, but above all because they fulfilled an electoral pledge to transpose into the institutional sphere the principles and experiences of the citizen protest movements that arose around the 15-M movement. The text offers analytical criteria applicable to any case, as well as an initial framework with preliminary findings designed to contribute, diachronically, to mapping the evolution of this experience through successive phases and, synchronically, to facilitating future comparative research at both national and international levels, all within a global context of burgeoning democratic renewal efforts based on digital technologies. The study’s principal substantive conclusion is that digital technologies are an indispensable yet insufficient component for the genuine development and enhancement of the democratic process, which ultimately depends on social, economic, cultural, and communicative factors that digital tools alone cannot resolve.