[rohrpost] UK Government's Major E-Democracy Push - Articles, Releases, Key Speech (Short Version)

[Steven Clift]

*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do ***


The "e-democracy" shot heard around the world.

The UK government has just announced a major e-democracy policy.
Yes, a government-led e-democracy agenda.

In my opinion, e-government will succeed only if it stands on two
equal legs - service and democracy.  I expect that many leading
governments around the world will take up the UK's call and launch
their own e-democracy initiatives to build a more balanced and
successful approach to e-government.

This is a completely new phase in the evolution of thought about
government's democratic role in the information age - that of an
initiator and actor and not simply a reactor to political and civic
uses of the Internet that wash over their old forms of decision-
making while elected and appointed officials feel helpless without
the online tools required to be better representatives.

Think of this new movement as "Representative E-Government," where
the two-way Internet is integrated into the governance and
representation process on par with the provision of online
transaction services.  The alternative is a services first approach
that automates the government services that people no longer want in
a way the increases the power of administration over elective
representatives and citizens.  What the UK government has done is
break through the narrow notion that e-democracy is about outsiders
pushing for online voting about everything.  Instead, building
e-democracy is a fundamental responsibility of a legitimate
democratic nation in the information age.

Hooray.

Below are links to some news coverage, a press release from the UK
Prime Minister's office, the major speech given by Douglas Alexander
the Minister for E-commerce and Competitiveness, and another more
detailed press release from the Department of Trade and Industry.

Steven Clift
Democracies Online Newswire
http://www.e-democracy.org/do  <- Join my 2200 person e-mail announcement
list here.


Press coverage about the e-democracy policies announced by the UK
government:

E-democracy moves up the agenda
  http://www.ukauthority.com/articles/story378.asp
UK Govt calls for e-democracy
  http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/22477.html


For the rest of this message see:

http://mail.tc.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0110&L=do-wire&D=1&H=1&O=D&F=&S=&P=2
349
(Cut and paste on one line)

Or visit <http://www.e-democracy.org/do>. Select archive by month, then
October 2001, then the UK message.