A Bad Start to the Year?

Some of the more innovative approaches to online engagement are inspired by lone individuals, working within their own departments to bring government into the 21st century. Their success has resulted in some gradual transformations in institutional culture, to the extent that key communications strategists and policy leads have been permitted (rather than actively encouraged) to develop blogs around their work.

This reflects the context in which those promoting online engagement operate. Left to their own devices, many departments and agencies shy away from technologically enabled deliberation. They do so for a range of reasons from restricted internet access, to limited capacity for public facing work. For those trying to promote online engagement, such obstacles can seem insurmountable at times.

What happens when one of the luminaries decides to call it a day? Those who remain start to assess the implications. Emerging from their discussion is a sense of frustration – albeit that this has been expressed in muted terms. Big Brother is Watching You.

The lack of confidence amongst government officials – especially those driving the kinds of change that make institutions more democratic, accountable and efficacious – is telling. It hints at a belief that their innovative approaches are not supported across the higher echelons of central government. This isn’t altogether surprising. As I write, plans are afoot to rationalise government websites; this reflects a standardised approach to online strategies, rather than a root and branch redeployment of new technologies.

But what are the implications of such trends within central government and how will they affect democratic engagement? Over the coming months, we will be discussing such questions on our blog.

Laura Miller - Senior Researcher