publishing the chapter I wrote contained within the essay on the project Partecipa.Net and E-Democracy that will be presented along with the video documentary during the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna in the month of June 2010.
The theme that concerns the issues related to the concept of E-Democracy , easy topic to deal only if not taken seriously. And 'maybe this is his biggest limit, or the ease with which many people talk about " Active Citizenship" and "Digital Democracy ", perhaps thinking the only chance to make less row shared print a document from home .
E-Democracy is much more than that. E ' requirement of democracy. It 's a light in the darkness of a company called democracy (with a small d) the right to vote "box closed." I am free to go to the voting booth and say destraosinistra . Tutto qui.
Aurelio Saffi , parlando di Democrazia diceva:
« La vita di un popolo non consiste nel diritto di eleggere i propri rappresentanti, ma nell'invogliarli, nel dirigerli sulla via, nel trasmettere loro la propria ispirazione. Nelle piccole repubbliche antiche, il popolo era chiamato a decidere intorno le leggi proposte. Nei grandi Stati moderni, l'associazione deve supplire all'esercizio impossibile di quel diritto. L'opinione del Paese dovrebbe legalmente, normalmente rivelarsi al governo intorno a ogni cosa che tocca i più. »
Mai niente di più lontano da quello che è oggi la democrazia.
Mai niente di più vicino a quello che dovrebbe essere la E-Democracy.
Good reading.
SM
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E-Government & E-Democracy
When we speak of E-Government, we are talking about an issue that involves Public Administration and sees the development of a project operating since 2001, when there began the first phase of the project of E-Democracy in the Italian Regions and Local Authorities. This phase sees the early development of three guidelines, strongly interconnected business lines: The promotion of e-government projects aimed at developing infrastructure services and end-user services, the definition of a common technical framework and methodological reference and establishing a network of Regional Centres of Competence (RCC).
are well-made 134 projects for the development of e-government, including 26 in the south. The main purpose of these projects is to achieve maximum delivery of public services online to the public and businesses. Key concepts for the development of E-Government and E-Democracy at this stage are the simplification, efficiency, competitiveness and integration between the local and national.
The second phase of the development of E-Government (ongoing) starts in 2005 and has as its main objective the enlargement of the majority of local innovation processes already started. This trend is immediately understood both as regards the implementation of services for citizens and businesses, both as regards the implementation of infrastructure services within regional areas. In this second phase of the key concepts become the training, support for Local Authorities and Digital Citizenship. It is in this context that the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna decided to make the empowerment project called "Partecipa.Net.
Partecipa.net and the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna
Partecipa.net is a training course from 'Assembly Legislature to staff and students of the Emilia-Romagna, which has as its ultimate goal the education for democratic participation through the use of new technologies.
The project has as its starting point the school, where students (assisted by their teachers) to decide a topic to be developed during the school year through the use of E-Democracy tools promoted by the Legislative Assembly ( Forums, Polls, material on-moons, Comparison with experts).
The fruits of these projects are then published on the website "Citizens & Students," making it possible for children to have an observable response to what done in the classroom. A first important result to emerge from this school work is given by the initiatives that emerge in the classroom. The boys involved in fact, become true citizens active in the area, promoting projects that highlight issues often neglected by national and local media.
In addition to school projects, is actually made possible a meeting between students and politicians through regional meetings in the area and in the Legislative Assembly. These moments are meant to achieve a real exchange of experiences, dando da una parte l'opportunità ai dirigenti regionali di venire a contatto con problematiche altrimenti difficili da osservare e, contemporaneamente, rendendo possibile un avvicinamento da parte dei giovani alla vita della Pubblica Amministrazione.
Ultimo, ma non meno importante aspetto del progetto Partecipa.net riguarda l'estensione al contesto europeo attraverso interazioni in lingua inglese e francese fra istituti italiani ed europei.
Partecipa.Net visto da una prospettiva diversa
In addition to this, during the academic year 2009/10, the Legislative Assembly in collaboration with the University of Bologna, carries out a project of civic journalism-media laboratory in which it is viewed from a perspective "outside" the Partecipa.Net project and issues related to democratic participation linked to it. The intent is to collect documentation of project results through videos, articles and interviews published online and presented to the Legislative Assembly. This collaboration between UNIBO and Legislative Assembly, is bringing an unprecedented collection of material and a report that can be summarized in a comprehensive manner the key points of the project.
All these initiatives have the merit of bringing the region Emilia-Romagna in the forefront of the development of E-Government, despite the considerable difficulties that this issue needs to be addressed .
the difficult subject of active participation
As already mentioned, the initiative is part of the Legislative Assembly Plan 'Action E-Government Minister for Innovation and Technology – MIT con l'obiettivo di incoraggiare, rafforzare e stimolare la partecipazione dei cittadini alle decisioni pubbliche.
Il tema della partecipazione attiva però, porta con se una serie di problematiche che attraverso le azioni territoriali trovano risposte incomplete. Soprattutto, è necessaria un'analisi del vero valore aggiunto che l'organizzazione di una cittadinanza attiva porta alla vita pubblica e all'azione amministrativa. È questo un tema sul quale non abbiamo una consapevolezza condivisa, con il conseguente rischio che le istituzioni amministrative tendano ad avere una visione riduttiva di questo valore aggiunto. La prima domanda that the concept of E-Government should go to answer it, is this: "Why do we do?". One of the reasons that are often associated with this theme is that the response "neo-democratic", ie a theoretical and practical elaboration of the concept of democracy in response to the "crisis of democracy" in our society. So we are in front of a theme that tries to answer a need for democracy. A new way of thinking in decision-making in public administration through the use of E-Democracy tools capable of achieving a real and informed citizenship.
Active Citizenship is a concept often used as a synonym for "people who participate in the life of public institutions." This concept actually expresses something more specific and it contains within itself the exercise of a responsibility of citizenship in the public space. It is the extension of citizenship and contribution to the classification of political life. It is a fundamental expression of popular sovereignty.
Looking at the reality of things, however, we are faced with a situation radically different to that of use to achieve those goals. The situation is bleak, and the causes are to be found mainly in the social transformations of our time, and especially in the absence of a reform of political institutions. All this brings us to the fact that projects like the one brought forward by the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna are certainly very good results and perspectives, but inexorably suffer a sort of isolation due to a lack of synergies within the public space. In other words, although the school through this type of project awareness and get results, it is equally true that it alone can not respond fully to a subject such as the E-Government, which instead would require the effort and reorganization of the entire administrative and political apparatus. Left to themselves, projects like this are nothing but good exercise of active citizenship, but they were not true starting point for something bigger.
The lack of a real prospect of change in the political decision-making system, which has the theme of its development of active citizenship, only in a concrete way of the more visible and important that this topic might develop. That is the enlargement and the qualifications of public space. Public space is to be understood as expressing a political environment where all stakeholders, individual and collective, which seek recognition responsibility and exercise of citizenship. Therefore, it is also that dimension of public life where the state and the expressions of active citizenship establish dynamic relations of different nature, with the development of relations of conflict or cooperation. Actions of this type, related to active citizenship projects must be accompanied by the presence of an administrative action carefully and democratically active.
Thus, we have to consider the regional dimension of public space. Size thanks to its advisory and government functions, see its importance grow exponentially over time. In this perspective, the administrative action of the public space, where representative institutions and carry out their administrative responsibilities, must take responsibility to see, places and establishing procedures for communication and integration with the public. Therefore, both projects that active participation as Partecipa.Net Approaches to citizenship outside the school.
In conclusion, it is essential that the future will look a strategic rethink on the issue of E-Democracy and E-Government, in order to succeed in bringing an increasing number nationals to citizenship projects active as already is being done to the schools through the project Partecipa.Net. Otherwise, the need for the country's democracy will remain unfulfilled.
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