e-Democracy (eBook)

David Rios Insua is Professor of Statistics and Operation Research and Vicerector at Rey Juan Carlos University. He has previously been resercher or lecturer at Madrikd Techn. University, Purdue, Duke, IIASA and CNR-IMATI. He is the youngest member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences. He has chaired the e-democracy programmes of the European Science Foundation and the Government of Madrid. He has ten books and nearly eighty refereed papers under his name. His current interests are in group decision support over the web, e-participation and Bayesian Analysis of stochastic processes. Simon French is Professor of Information and Decision Sciences at Manchester Business School in the University of Manchester. He was previously Professor of Information Systems and Operational Research at the University of Leeds. He has an international reputation in decision theory, analysis and support systems, risk assessment and Bayesian statistics. He has over 120 publications to his name, including three standard texts on decision theory, and was from 1990 to 2000 founding editor of the Journal of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. In all his work the emphasis is on multi-disciplinary approaches to solving real problems and the innovative use of technology in supporting decision making. Currently he is working on e-democracy and e-participation. He was a member of the European Science Foundation's Towards Electronic Democracy programme and is part of a major research project, funded under the UK Research Councils Rural Economy and Land Use Programme, into public and stakeholder participation into the handling of food chain issues in the rural economy.

Foreword 5
Acknowledgment 6
Contents 8
Contributors 10
1 e-Democracy: A Group Decision and Negotiation-Oriented Overview 12
1.1 Introduction 12
1.2 Deliberative Democracy and Public Participation 13
1.3 Group Decision Theory and e-Participation 15
1.4 A Group Decision-Analytic Based Architecture for e-Participation Support 16
1.5 Book Organisation 21
References 22
Part I Political Bases 24
2 Concepts in Democratic Theory 25
2.1 Introduction 25
2.2 What Is Democracy 26
2.3 Direct Democracy 30
2.4 Representative Democracy 32
2.5 Democracy and Participation 34
2.6 Challenges for Democracy 36
References 39
3 Participatory Processes and Instruments 41
3.1 Introduction 41
3.2 Participatory Democracy 42
3.3 Participatory Instruments 45
3.4 Participatory Tasks 50
3.5 Discussion 52
References 54
Part II Methodological Bases 56
4 Problem-Structuring Methods for e-Democracy 57
4.1 Introduction 57
4.2 Problem-Structuring Methods 58
4.3 e-Problem Structuring 62
4.3.1 The Asynchronous and Automation Challenges 62
4.3.2 The e-Facilitation Challenge 64
4.4 Conclusions and Directions for Further Research 69
References 70
5 Decision Support Systems 72
5.1 Introduction 72
5.2 Categorising Decision Support Systems 73
5.2.1 The Strategy Pyramid and Cynefin 73
5.2.2 Levels of Support 75
5.2.3 Categorisation of Decision Support Systems 76
5.2.4 The Decision-Making Process 78
5.2.5 The Actors in a Decision 79
5.3 Decision Support Systems for the Complex Space 80
5.3.1 The Formulation Phase: Support for Divergent Thinking 80
5.3.2 The Analysis Phase: Support for Convergent Thinking 82
5.3.3 The Decision 83
5.4 Interface Issues in Decision Support 84
5.5 Concluding Remarks 86
References 87
6 Collaborative Decision Analysis and e-Democracy 90
6.1 Introduction 90
6.2 Collaborative Decision Analysis Approaches 91
6.2.1 Preference-Based Voting 91
6.2.2 Explicit Preference Aggregation 92
6.2.2.1 Authority-Based Aggregation 94
6.2.2.2 Axiomatic-Based Aggregation 95
6.2.3 Decision Conferencing 96
6.2.4 Negotiation Analysis 97
6.3 Relaxing the Assumptions 99
6.3.1 Goal Programming 99
6.3.2 Robust Bayesian Analysis 100
6.4 Arrow's Impossibility Theorem 101
6.5 CDA and e-Democracy 102
References 105
7 Voting Theory 107
7.1 Introduction 107
7.2 Motivation 109
7.3 Procedure Desiderata 110
7.4 Some Important Results 115
7.5 Systems Requiring Minimal Information 120
7.6 Systems Based on Richer Information 122
7.7 How to Evaluate Systems? 124
7.8 Searching for Consensus 126
7.9 Conclusion 127
References 128
8 Real-World Decision Aiding: A Case in Participatory Water Management 130
8.1 Introduction 130
8.2 Participation in the Real World 131
8.2.1 Complexities in Water Management 131
8.2.2 Aiding Inter-organizational Decision-Making 132
8.2.3 Levels of Participation 134
8.3 Theoretical Models and Methods for Decision-Aiding 136
8.3.1 Participatory Structure Model 136
8.3.2 Decision-Aiding Process Model 138
8.3.3 Criticism and Extension 139
8.4 Intervention Case: Regional Estuarine Management in Australia 142
8.4.1 Decision-Aiding Case Definition 144
8.4.2 Lessons Learnt 148
8.4.3 Insights for Theory 149
8.5 Discussion 150
8.6 Conclusions 152
References 152
Part III Technological Bases 156
9 The Internet and the Web 157
9.1 The Early Days of the Internet 157
9.2 The Birth of the World Wide Web 159
9.3 The Development of the Web in the New Millennium 160
9.4 The Future 164
9.5 Further Reading 165
References 166
10 e-Participation: A Discursive Approach 167
10.1 Introduction 167
10.2 The Characteristics of Public Participation Processes 169
10.2.1 The Nature of the Problem or Issue 170
10.2.2 The Characteristics of Participants 170
10.2.3 The Internal Influence 171
10.2.4 The External Influence 172
10.3 The Challenges for Public Participation and the Discursive Approach 172
10.4 Discursive Deliberation in the Public Sphere 174
10.5 Online Deliberative (Discursive) Support Tools 176
10.5.1 Pre-Internet Tools/Discursive Support 176
10.5.2 The First Wave of Internet Tools -- Pre-web 2.0 177
10.5.3 Research Developments to Improve Simple Internet Discursive Tools 178
10.5.4 Integration with Tools from Other Research Areas 179
10.5.5 The Web 2.0 Revolution 180
10.6 Final Remarks and Challenges Ahead 183
References 184
11 e-Negotiation Systems for e-Participation 189
11.1 Introduction 189
11.2 Concepts 191
11.2.1 Negotiation and Auctions 191
11.2.2 Negotiation Cardinality 192
11.2.3 e-Negotiation and e-Negotiation Systems 192
11.3 A Review of e-Negotiation Systems 194
11.4 Designing e-Negotiation Systems for e-Participation 195
11.4.1 Design Requirements 195
11.4.2 Service-Oriented e-Negotiation Systems 197
11.5 Conclusion 201
References 202
12 Web-Based Decision Support: Creating a Cultureof Applying Multi-criteria Decision Analysisand Web-Supported Participation in Environmental Decision Making 204
12.1 Introduction 204
12.2 Framework for a Participatory Process with MCDA Tools and Web-Based Participation 205
12.2.1 Multi-criteria Decision Analysis 207
12.2.2 Tools to Communicate Through the Internet 209
12.2.2.1 Opinions-Online 209
12.2.2.2 Web-HIPRE 209
12.3 Evaluation of the Framework 212
12.3.1 Lake Regulation Projects 212
12.3.2 Applicability of the Framework in Environmental Planning 215
12.3.2.1 Informing and Educating the Public 215
12.3.2.2 Incorporating Public Values and Knowledge in the Process 217
12.3.2.3 Decision Quality and Conflict Reduction 219
12.3.2.4 Building Trust 219
12.3.2.5 Cost-Effectiveness 220
12.3.3 How to Attract the People? 220
12.4 Conclusions 221
References 222
13 A Generic System for Remote e-Voting Management 225
13.1 Introduction 225
13.2 e-Voting Experiences 226
13.3 System Context 227
13.4 General Description of the e-Voting System 229
13.5 Security 230
13.6 Data Structure 232
13.7 Functional Requirements 233
13.7.1 Use Cases in the 'Voting Execution' Package 233
13.7.1.1 Use Case 'To Vote' 234
13.7.1.2 Use Case 'To Delete My Vote' 236
13.7.1.3 Use Case 'To See My Vote' 236
13.7.2 Use Cases of the Package 'Voting Management' 236
13.7.3 Use Cases in the Package 'Information Provision' 239
13.8 Conclusions 240
References 240
14 Explanation Systems 242
14.1 Introduction 242
14.2 Multi-attribute Value Theory (MAVT) for Group Decision Support 243
14.3 Explanation Modules 244
14.3.1 Explanation of Model Parameters 248
14.3.2 Statistical Comparisons 249
14.3.3 Sensitivity Analysis Explanations 249
14.3.4 Reasoning Explanations 250
14.3.5 Knowledge Representation Explanations 250
14.4 Case Study: Decision Support in Emergency Management 251
14.4.1 RODOS 251
14.4.2 Moderated Decision-Making Workshops 252
14.5 Conclusion and Outlook 257
References 258
Part IV Case Studies 261
15 Transparent Public Decision Making: Discussion and Case Study in Sweden 262
15.1 Introduction 262
15.2 Decision Support in e-Democracy and Public Settings 263
15.3 Analysis Toolbox 265
15.4 Case Background 266
15.5 Problem Structuring and Workshops 268
15.6 Elicitation of Decision Data 270
15.7 The Analysis Layer and Decision Frames 271
15.8 Analysis Results 276
15.9 Conclusions 278
References 279
16 From Participatory to e-Participatory Budgets 281
16.1 Introduction 281
16.2 A Critical Assessment of Participatory Budgets 282
16.2.1 Porto Alegre 282
16.2.2 France 284
16.2.3 Germany 285
16.2.4 Italy 286
16.2.5 Spain 287
16.2.6 United Kingdom 287
16.2.7 Assessment 288
16.3 An Architecture for e-Participatory Budget Formation Support 289
16.3.1 Security Module 291
16.3.2 Interface 291
16.3.3 Problem-Structuring Module 292
16.3.4 Debating Module 292
16.3.5 Preference Communication Module 293
16.3.6 Negotiating Module 294
16.3.7 Voting Module 294
16.4 An Experiment 295
16.5 Conclusions 297
References 297
17 Internet Voting in Estonia 298
17.1 Introduction 298
17.2 Why Internet Voting? 298
17.3 Project Management 299
17.4 Creating the Legal Basis 300
17.4.1 Parliamentary Debates About I-voting 300
17.4.2 Teleological Interpretation of the Principle of Secrecy 301
17.4.3 The Right to Change the I-vote as a Required Guarantee for Free Elections 303
17.5 Technical Solution 305
17.5.1 ID Card as a Tool for Secure Interaction in Internet 305
17.5.2 Measures Used to Ensure Voting Secrecy 306
17.5.3 System Architecture 307
17.6 Users' Perspective 308
17.7 Impact Analysis 311
17.8 Challenges 313
17.8.1 Transparent Election Administration 313
17.8.2 Observation in Practice 314
17.8.3 Validating the Voting Systems 315
17.9 Conclusions 316
References 317
18 Consensus Building by Blended Participation in a Local Planning Process: The Case of the Public Stadium Swimming Pool in Bremen 319
18.1 Theoretical Background and Practical Approach 319
18.2 Project Context and Main Stakeholders 322
18.3 The Decision-Making Process 324
18.3.1 The Formulation Phase 324
18.3.1.1 The Analysing Phase 330
18.3.1.2 Decision Phase 331
18.4 Process Requirements and Evaluation 332
18.5 Multi-channel Communication and the Twofold Media Mix 333
18.6 Summary and Lessons Learnt 336
References 336
Part V Future Prospects 338
19 e-Democracy: The Road Ahead 339
19.1 Introduction 339
19.2 A Generic Approach to Participation 340
19.3 The Need for a Design Methodology 342
19.4 From Participation to e-Participation 344
19.5 The Art of e-Participation 346
19.5.1 Supporting Large Heterogeneous Groups Through the Web 347
19.5.2 Building Communication Through the Web 348
19.5.3 The Art of Facilitation Through the Web 349
19.5.4 The Issue of Legitimacy and Trust 349
19.6 Conclusions 350
References 351
Index 353