E-GOVERNANCE AND E-PARTICIPATION VIA ONLINE CITIZEN BUDGETS AND ELECTRONIC LOBBYING: Promises and Challenges

Abstract

Proponents of e-government, e-governance, and e-participation are particularly excited about the inclusive and empowering nature of some of their recent platforms. Critics nevertheless remain skeptical about how empowering these technologies really are and to what extent they fruitfully contribute to direct democratic processes. This essay reviews online initiatives in two areas (citizen budgets and facilitating citizen lobbying practices) intended to enhance e-participation and e-government strategies in the United States and beyond. I suggest that although clear progress has been made in the innovation of e-governance and information and communication technologies with websites like LobbyForMe and online citizen’s budget initiatives, a long road lies ahead before any notable milestone can be acknowledged in respect to full-blown e-democracy.