An Attempt to Build an eParticipation Program from Scratch: The Case of a District Municipality

Abstract

The use of electronic tools to support the democratic process through inclusive participation has almost a two decades history - but not in all countries. There are regions where eParticipation projects are still in their infancy. Albeit there are mature “best practices”, they mostly address issues faced by developed countries with strong tradition of democracy in general, where transition to online, technology based solution is on a normal trajectory. On the other hand, there is a growing collection of case studies from all over the world with very differing views on the option - and diverging needs how to proceed and how to make ePart projects successful. This paper reports on research that addressed technology related challenges a district authority in the capital of Hungary faced when decided to embark on a program of extended democratic decision making - with the possibility to utilize digital technologies.