Title:	ON-LINE CONSULTATION - ENHANCING THE SENSE OF CIVIC INTEGRATION AMONGST CITIZENS
Author(s):	Philip J. Weston , Margaret Mcquillan
ISBN:	972-8924-16-X
Editors:	Pedro Isaías, Maggie McPherson and Frank Bannister
Year:	2006
Edition:	1
Keywords:	e-Government, On-line consultation, ICT’s, Information communication technologies.
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	273
Last Page:	279
Language:	English
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Paper Abstract:	This paper describes the Online Consultation Pilot Project developed in conjunction with Stoke-on-Trent City Council in 2005. The project was initiated as a result of a need to establish whether using ICT’s encouraged Stoke-on-Trent citizens to participate in local consultation, thus enhancing democracy. The desirability of developing and testing Online Consultation in a local government setting was established in a literature review. The paper examines whether the Pilot Project was developed and delivered effectively in partnership with local communities, and whether the consultative vehicle was responsive. The research tests the effectiveness of the Online Consultation Pilot Project by analysing the results of the Pilot Project as a whole and the impact that marketing had on the process. The data analysed, compares participants to the local population profile to establish whether the project was inclusive and accessible to all citizens. A key measure of the success of the Online Consultation Pilot Project was to establish whether it encouraged people to participate in consultation. The results indicate that this project raised citizens’ awareness of the wider consultation process. The affect of using ICT’s to engage citizens appears to illustrate that the majority of those who contributed their views on their locality directly through this Pilot Project would probably not have done so otherwise.
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