“Citizen trust in government has increased” according to 35% those who have implemented e-democracy programs in the local government. With distrust in government often a media topic, it is particularly gratifying to learn that e-democracy initiatives have increased the trust level. Those who reported increased trust responded to a recent ICMA survey on e-democracy/e-participation.

E-democracy involves the use of electronic means to promote and enhance citizen engagement and participation in local government activities, programs, and decision making. Although progress in e-democracy has been somewhat slow overall, on a recently conducted e-democracy survey respondents who have implemented programs identified the following benefits:

• Quality of information available to local officials for decision making has increased.
• Quality of information available to local officials for decision making has increased.
• Citizen participation has increased
• Citizen trust in government has increased.

 “It’s the right thing to do” is the response of 56% of local governments when asked why they engage in e-democracy/e-participation projects and activities. Anecdotally we know that there is concern among local officials that e-democracy could result in groups with special interests hijacking the issues, yet when asked which single  barrier to e-democracy has been the most difficult,  a plurality (39%) reported “lack of funding,” not concern about domination by particular groups.

A summary of the survey results can be downloaded from the Knowledge Network by clicking here.