Open and Participatory Policymaking – 21st Century Governing or Democracy Theatre

Disruptive technology offers the promise of opening lawmaking to new sources of expertise and opinion, making lawmakers accountable to the public on more than just Election Day. Around the world, public authorities are turning to the Internet to involve the public at various stages of decisionmaking from agenda-setting to evaluation.  We call such uses of participatory technology to engage the public in law and policy making: “crowdlaw.” Yet despite pockets of experimentation, governments are slow to implement such engagement, fearing that participation will be burdensome, at worst, and useless at best. Although CrowdLaw could offer the potential for a two-way conversation that may thereby improve the quality and the effectiveness of resulting outcomes, it could just as well result merely in “democracy theatre.” We explore the technologies that could enhance lawmaking, how to measure success and the possible risks.

Who is the Conference for?

Government decision makers and strategists from countries implementing national e-Governance strategies,

Donor organisations supporting development of open, transparent and efficient governance practices via IT solutions

Companies developing e-Governance applications and assisting governments with their implementation

Contact organisers at
conference@ega.ee

Partners