Electronic Participation Policies and Initiatives in the European Union Institutions

Electronic participation (eParticipation) is increasingly employed by governments worldwide to broaden and deepen political participation. This is evident from the large number of relevant policy documents, initiatives, and platforms. In Europe, besides national governments, European Union (EU) Institutions are also actively promoting eParticipation. In this article, the authors investigate the eParticipation policies and current initiatives in the EU Institutions and introduce a theoretical framework upon which eParticipation-related documents and initiatives can be evaluated against parameters generated by democracy and governance theory. The main results of the survey indicate that the emphasis on hierarchical governance modes and emerging network elements employed by the EU in its rhetoric and implemented via eParticipation initiatives proclaimed the will to ensure legitimacy and expand connectivity between strong and weak publics in an open communication strategy.