Digital Engagement in UK Governance: The role of Policy Officials in shaping Public Involvement in Policy Making through Electronic Media

From its early days, the web has been used as a space for political discussion, opinion formation and mobilisation. This has provoked ongoing controversy and debate about how new technologies are used in democratic engagement and policy making, what policy makers are seeking to achieve, and which groups are empowered by digital interventions. This paper will begin with an overview of how e-democracy developed under the Labour Government and an analysis of the political and organisational issues which shape government-led online initiatives. It will go on to consider how technologies are being selected, shaped and employed by political elites and whether these elites use their existing power and resources to neutralise the radical potential of the web as some have argued or, alternatively, whether user appropriation of technologies may subvert and challenge established power relations as innovative interaction with policy actors leads to new forms of bureaucratic and political behaviour. It is difficult to evaluate these alternatives fully, since to date there has been little research on the role of policy officials in shaping online participation and what issues and influences shape their responses to digital engagement. The focus of most work on online public involvement has tended to focus on the role of the citizen and the impact of different design choices on the potential for deliberation. This paper reports on ongoing research which aims to address this gap and, in so doing, better understand the role of public officials in managing online participation.