Citizens’ engagement using communication technologies

Abstract

The Edelman trust barometer measures, since 2001, public trust in businesses, governments, non government organizations and media, across 25 countries. The 2012 survey (Edelman, 2012) showed that, in more than half of the studies countries, citizens distrust their own governments. According to their opinion there are two main actions governments must implement in order to improve public trust: (i) incorporate listening and feedback mechanisms within the governments, as well as (ii) develop transparent and open practices. Since the 1960s public participation has been an effective instrument used by governments in order to obtain citizens’ support, guarantee transparency of decision making processes as well as improve public trust in government policies. The development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has enabled new cost-effective and convenient ways of citizens’ engagement, resulting in the emergence of the electronic participation (e-participation) concept. E-participation is believed to be a key strategy so governments can improve the efficiency, acceptance, and legitimacy of political processes as well as public trust. The main objectives of this work are to present and discuss the e-participation concept, analyze different classifications of e-participation, identify the main existing e-participation frameworks and explore integration between Web 2.0 and e-participation research fields. It is believed that this can be of interest to researchers and practitioners new to the e-participation area, in order to get familiarized with the fundamentals inherent to this domain. Moreover, this work presents ground for future analysis and investigation of the e-participation field.