Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.20901/ms.7.14.3

Open Government: A Tool for Democracy?

Emiliana De Blasio ; LUISS University, Department of Political Sciences, Rome, Italy and SciencesPo, Paris, France
Michele Sorice orcid.org/0000-0003-3731-5690 ; LUISS University, Department of Political Sciences, Rome, Italy and University of Stirling, Communication Media and Culture, Scotland, UK

Abstract

The growing disconnection between citizens and decision-makers is pushing politics towards a re-shaping of institutional design. New spaces of political participation are sustained and even reinforced
by communication, especially by digital communication. Governments and public administrations can find and use different models to facilitate citizens’ participation; e-government, open government and a specific design of digital democracy. In this respect, open government can constitute a way to re-connect citizens and political institutions, but at the same time, it can also be an “appealing” tool to institutionalize bottom-up participation and so anesthetizing it. The aim of this article is to present the first findings of an international research project about open government and participatory platforms in four European countries (France, Italy, Spain, the UK). The study tries to understand if participatory platforms can improve the quality of democracy, and if open government can contribute to democratizing democracy.

Keywords

open government; participation; communication; democracy; democratic innovations

Hrčak ID:

171153

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/171153

Publication date:

15.12.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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