Is political participation online effective?: A case study of the e-democracy initiative conducted by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies

Rossini, P. G.C. and Maia, R. C. M. (2016) Is political participation online effective?: A case study of the e-democracy initiative conducted by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. In: Politics and Social Activism: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. IGI Global, pp. 844-865. (doi: 10.4018/978-1-4666-9461-3.ch043)

Abstract

The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies (Câmara dos Deputados) conducts an e-democracy initiative that enables people to participate in political decisions regarding legislation. “Portal E-Democracia” is the name of this website in which people can participate in several different ways to speak their minds regarding legislative activities. This chapter analyses the effectiveness of citizens' engagement in the e-democracy initiative through the case study of the discussion of the Internet Civilian Landmark – a bill to regulate Internet use in Brazil. The authors analyse two types of participation: comments to the draft bill and suggestions. To measure the effectiveness of user-participation in such a case of collaborative lawmaking, the authors compare the content of the first draft, the final draft, and the suggestions made through the wikilegis in order to assess whether the discussions maintained within the e-democracy platform were or were not taken into account. This procedure also reveals to what extent online discussion was able to reach political decision-makers and effectively change the Internet's Bill of Rights.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rossini, Dr Patricia
• Authors: Rossini, P. G.C., and Maia, R. C. M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Politics and Social Activism: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications
• Publisher: IGI Global