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20|03|09

The UK embraces e-democracy

From signing petitions to paying for our road tax, millions of us are now going online when we deal with local and central government.

New Ofcom research found that in the last year alone almost half the UK population accessed a government or council website.

This ranged from people looking for information, to those who used services such as registering for Child Tax Credits online.

Today’s findings come as more and more central and local government services are available online.

Citizen participation

Ofcom’s research sampled three groups – one representative of the UK population as a whole, another who filled in our survey online and a third from areas of multiple deprivation.

More than 70 per cent of those we surveyed online (and 60 per cent of the general population) said the web had made it easier to engage in citizen participation activities, such as contacting an MP or signing a petition.

But despite an increase in web-based activities, many people still want to keep traditional methods of contact.

For example, 33 per cent of those we surveyed online would rather deal with someone face to face, such as when contacting their MP.

Trust and confidence

A similar number were also unaware of the full range of online citizen participation opportunities available.

However, while many have embraced e-democracy, that’s the not the case in areas of multiple deprivation.

We found that in those areas only 15 per cent had used the web to find or use government and council information or services.

More than 70 per cent in those areas were also unaware of online citizen participation opportunities, almost half did not sufficiently trust the internet for these activities and 40 per cent said they lacked confidence to participate in citizen activities online.

But wherever you live, you’re more likely to take part in citizen activities if you feel strongly about an issue or cause, while being invited to take part also plays a key role.

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