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Digital citizens and democratic engagement

2010-02-10T12:18:00Z

Digital citizens and democratic participation: An analysis of how citizens participate online and connect with MPs and Parliament - shows that for Britons who are already online, the internet has made it easier to take part in civic and political activities and that half of them prefer to use the internet to take part in democratic life.

With over two thirds of the British population online, this report explores how people use the internet to connect with their elected representatives and also the trends in online digital engagement across civic and political life. The research draws on two samples. The first was a national survey of individuals who were already online and the second was a sample of ‘digital leaders' -people with a strong interest in social media and politics. The first group demonstrated how Britons currently use the internet to participate in politics and civic life and the second group identified trends for future and developing technologies.

Download Digital citizens and democratic participation: An analysis of how citizens participate online and connect with MPs and Parliament

Digital Papers - Twitter: Communication Tool or Pointless Vanity (October 2009)

2009-12-08T15:17:00Z

The social networking application Twitter has become an increasingly relevant and much talked about tool for the digital politician. As recently as December 2008 only two MPs were regularly dispatching 140-character ‘tweets', as a twitter message is known. Today, this has risen to 79 or just over 12% of MPs. That's about the same number with a blog but fewer than the 30% with a presence on Facebook. This rapid rise has led to the portrayal of Twitter as either revolutionary or a pointless fad. The reality lies somewhere in-between, a continuation of the increasingly fast news and information cycle that started with the printing press and evolved through radio, TV and blogs. As Labour MP and the party's ‘Twitter tsar', Kerry McCarthy, suggests, any MP who uses Twitter ‘is doing what we've always done in a new setting'.

Labour MPs who account for 61% of parliamentary twitterers and the Liberal Democrats, always early adopters of new media in the House, have a quarter of their MPs twittering. Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone was first in early 2008. Conservative MPs are the least likely to use Twitter, which might not be surprising given David Cameron's recent remarks on the subject. This reflects a strategy that places less emphasis on digital campaign tools for incumbent MPs but much more for prospective parliamentary candidates, where the Conservatives lead the league table, just slightly ahead of Labour.

Twitter's 140 characters are most widely used as a broadcast medium, replicating the other web tools. But it offers much more and, used well, becomes a platform for engagement and to listen. Some say that 40% of Twitter traffic is just ‘pointless babble' but are 60% of face-to-face conversations meaningful? Abbreviating the message does not mean losing the meaning but condensing what you say into a short, sharp 140 characters (roughly, this sentence) is a real skill.

An MPs Twitter audience bears little resemblance to their geographical constituency and, like blogs, Twitter's reach is far wider. This dislocation from the traditional constituency can be a boon for politicians wanting to raise their wider profile. As Labour MP Tom Harris noted, it is a chance to have a say beyond the constituency and portfolio. However, the extent to which the Twitter constituency is cultivated and maintained clearly varies. In New Zealand, candidates used Twitter during their 2008 election campaign to rally support only to switch off afterwards, the online presence of many going suddenly quiet.

There are benefits for the wider public too. Twitter has given us a different view of Parliament. It is now common to see MPs tweeting directly from the House during Prime Minister's Questions and a considerable number of tweets were made from the chamber during the election of the new Speaker in June. As we saw with the viral ‘#welovetheNHS' campaign, Twitter gives ordinary people the chance to directly shape the political agenda.

All of this highlights a challenge for politicians: being effective on Twitter means following and listening as much leading and talking. Citizens want their MPs to listen more but also prefer to engage with them in relatively shallow ways. Those who are already online prefer to connect online and so Twitter offers a new place for old style street-corner politics, suiting MPs who want to feel the pulse of the electorate. In Twitter, those who have always aimed to engage the public in constructive discussion will find a new space and a valuable new tool but it's not the ‘killer app' of digital politics and unlikely of itself to transform the political landscape.

Download a copy of our paper on MPs and Twitter here...

Read about and download the audio from our October 2009 Democracy Forum: Twiter: Communication tool or pointless vanity? here...

Digital Dialogues Third Phase Report: August 2007 - August 2008

2008-08-13T10:43:00Z

Digital Dialogues Third Phase Report: August 2007 - August 2008 by Laura Miller and Andy Williamson

Free download Full report (PDF 3MB)

Free download Executive Summary

Digital Dialogues is an independent review into the use of online technologies to enhance engagement between central government and the public.

Digital Dialogues 3 focuses on seven case studies (including the Office of the Prime Minister and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) that highlight the factors that help and hinder online engagement. The report finds that many government departments remain wary of using the internet to engage because it is new and unfamiliar. While some parts of government are willing to use an experimental and adaptable approach to online engagement, others were paralysed by a sense of risk leading to disappointment, disengagement and increased public distrust.

Digital Dialogues was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice.

This publication is free to download but if you would like to make a donation to the Hansard Society to enable us to continue to produce future research please click here.

Your Parliament: Make it work for you

2008-07-24T11:29:00Z

Your Parliament explains the basics of the British political system: the work of Parliament, the role of MPs and peers, and how laws are made. It also describes how to get involved: through voting, contacting your MP or visiting the Houses of Parliament.

The Your Parliament pamphlet provides clear, straightforward explanations on questions such as:

What is Parliament? How is the UK run?
Who are MPs and peers? What do they do?
What are political parties?
How do I vote?
How are new laws made?
What goes on in Parliament?
Why should I get involved?
How can I get involved or find out more?

Your Parliament is part of the Hansard Society's ongoing work to inform and educate the public on the workings of Parliament and the political system. It is revised and updated from the 2004 version, and is published jointly with the Houses of Parliament.

To download a free copy of Your Parliament, click here.

Audit of Political Engagement 5 (Mar 2008)

2008-03-27T13:11:00Z

ISBN: 978 0900432 34 7
Free download

The annual Audit of Political Engagement carried out by the Hansard Society measures the nature and extent of political engagement and reveals where views have changed - and where they remain constant. It offers a yearly snapshot of political knowledge and engagement in Britain.

Audit 5 includes a special section on constitutional issues to discover how much the public know about how our constitutional arrangements operate, which areas they are satisfied with and which they think are ripe for reform. This report is valuable source of information and debate for all those who are concerned with the health of our democratic system.

For more information about the Audit of Political Engagement Series, click here. The raw survey data from the opinion polling carried out by Ipsos MORI for Audit 5 is available here.

Audit 5 was funded by the Ministry of Justice and the House of Commons.

Digital Dialogues - Second Phase Report (Sept 2007)

2007-11-06T12:17:00Z

Ross Ferguson, Barry Griffiths and Laura Miller
ISBN 978 0900432 09 5
Free download [PDF 1.94MB]

Digital Dialogues is an independent review of ways in which central government can use information and communication technology to engage the public.

The report contains evaluations of 12 case studies, including Downing Street webchats, the Secretary of State for the Environment's blog and the FCO's forum on the European Youth Parliament. The report concludes that government has made good progress in online engagement from a ‘standing start’. The report concludes with 10 recommendations to government relating to how it can sustain its use of social media.

Digital Dialogues was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice.

Parliament for the Future (P4tF) (September 2007)

2007-10-21T20:38:00Z

Ross Ferguson and Laura Miller
ISBN 978 0900432 19 4
Free download (PDF 1MB)

P4tF addresses the use of the internet by Parliament to provide information to the public, to promote legislative scrutiny and to enhance representation, and seeks to map:

1. How technology has been used in these areas to date;
2. Which technologies or processes may emerge in these areas over the next five years;
3. How Parliament can plan strategically towards future ICT investment and provision.

To address these questions the Hansard Society formed an incubator group of academics, technologists and practitioners; this report showcases those ideas. The report outlines some recommendations about how Parliament can develop and enhance its use of online forms of engagement.

P4tF was funded by the UK Parliament's Group on Information for the Public.

Available only via download.

Democracy and Intervention (Jul 2007)

2007-09-28T15:54:00Z

Lord Parekh with commentaries by Kate Jenkins, Dr John Chipman and Lindsey Hilsum
ISBN 978 0 900432 73 6
Available free via download

This fifth publication in the Democracy Series brings together leading experts to consider whether democracy is a universal good and whether it should be actively promoted. The publication debates: whether democratic values can or should be exported from one country to another, how democracy can best be promoted and sustained and if the tensions between religious based democracy and liberal democracy are able to be resolved.

The Democracy Series is supported by the Ministry of Justice.

Law in the Making (Jun 2007)

2007-09-27T16:06:00Z

Alex Brazier, Susanna Kalitowski and Gemma Rosenblatt
Available free via download

Law in the Making is an initial discussion paper from the Hansard Society's major research project looking at how laws are made and the influences that are brought to bear on the legislative process. A final report looking at Parliament's impact on legislation will be published in spring 2008.

This project is generously funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

Audit of Political Engagement 4 (Mar 2007)

2007-09-26T16:15:00Z

Hansard Society/Electoral Commission report
Available free via download

The fourth Audit undertaken jointly by the Hansard Society and the Electoral Commission. It considers the barriers to greater political participation; what people want from MPs and from political parties; and what, if anything, people are prepared to do to be involved in politics.

Democracy and Political Parties (Mar 2007)

2007-09-25T16:20:00Z

Professor Paul Webb with commentaries by John Healey MP, Geoff Mulgan and Baroness Shephard
ISBN 978 0 900423 68 2
Available free via download

The fourth publication in the Democracy Series discusses the role of political parties in the 21st century. How can they improve their relevance to the public? How can they engage more closely with local communities? How can they respond to a changing democractic system?

The Democracy Series is supported by the Ministry of Justice.

Friend or Foe: Lobbying in British democracy (Jan 2007)

2007-09-24T16:26:00Z

Dr Phil Parvin
ISBN 978 0 900423 63 7
£5 or available free via download

The Hansard Society's report, Friend or Foe? Lobbying in British Democracy, published earlier this year, revealed that 62% of MPs claim that they are more persuaded by arguments put forward by charities and interest groups than businesses.

This report was kindly supported by Ellwood and Atfield.

A Year in the Life: From member of public to Member of Parliament (Dec 2006)

2007-09-23T16:40:00Z

Gemma Rosenblatt
ISBN 978 0900432 58 3
£7.50 or available free via download

The Hansard Society report, A Year in the Life, tells the story of what happens when members of the public become Members of Parliament. We give an insight into what actually takes place after the votes are counted, the acceptance speeches have been made and the champagne drunk. In other words, once the real work begins.

The Hansard Society spent twelve months monitoring the 2005 intake of first-time MPs. We looked at their experiences, ambitions, how they operate and their views on Parliament. The report sets out how they set about learning the trade and the hurdles they faced during a year in the life of an MP.

This project was kindly supported by Accenture.

Democracy and Capitalism (Dec 2006)

2007-09-22T16:34:00Z

Lord Dahrendorf with commentaries by Professor Gerry Stoker, Ruth Lea, Stewart Wallis and Vincent Cable MP.
ISBN 978 900432 48 4

Available free via download

The third publication in the Democracy Series discusses the relationship between democracy and capitalism. What are the connections and conflicts between democracy and capitalism? Are they intertwined or should they be seen as separate forces? How should we regard the relationship between capitalism and democracy in an age of globalisation?

The Democracy Series is supported by the Ministry of Justice.

Digital Dialogues - Interim Report (Dec 2006)

2007-09-22T11:21:00Z

Ross Ferguson
ISBN 978 0900432 04 0
Free download [PDF 817KB]

Digital Dialogues is an independent review of ways in which central government can use information and communication technology to engage the public. The interim report contains policy overviews, case studies, data and draft guidance for government officials.

The findings demonstrated that online engagement had tangible communications, policy and delivery benefits. The data also showed that for the majority of those citizens who participated in the Digital Dialogues case studies, this was their first interaction with the policy process and that they would be inclined to do so again.

Digital Dialogues was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice.