Public policy proposals on youth and online political participation

Article that brings together the conclusions of the study of two EU-funded political participation projects, DEMOS-Plan and Electronic Town Meeting, two participatory tools in administrative processes. They are tested in 18 local pilots across several European regions and encompass fields such as socioeconomic programming, environmental strategy and open government, among others.

_{Molinari, F. [Francesco]. (2012). eParticipation that Works. Evidence from the Old Europe. JeDEM - EJournal of EDemocracy and Open Government, 4(2), 245–264. https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v4i2.152}

Since 2000, the European institutions have set up several projects of this type. This document focuses on the institutional strategies, the actors they mobilize and their main effects.

_{Badouard, R. [Romain]. (2010). Pathways and Obstacles to eParticipation at the European level. JeDEM - EJournal of EDemocracy and Open Government, 2(2), 99–110. https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v2i2.30}

The objective of the study, based on 16 interviews, is to develop a toolbox that enriches the dialogue between politicians and citizens on the Web.

_{Wandhoefer, T. [Timo], Thamm, M. [Mark] and Joshi, S. [Somya]. (2012). Politician2.0 on Facebook: Information Behavior and Dissemination on Social Networking Sites – Gaps and Best-Practice. Evaluation Results of a novel eParticipation toolbox to let politicians engage with citizens online. JeDEM - EJournal of EDemocracy and Open Government, 3(2), 207–215. https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v3i2.78}

Politicians are aware of the importance of the social media systems and their evolution. There is little agreement between citizens and politicians about how the different genres should be enacted.

It explains the AUGMENT project, which includes content for users and the production of a prototype to share information. This initiative is based on the analysis of participatory methods for the growth of shared transformative spaces.

The empowerment brought about by technologies to participate in social and political causes can also result in more control by politicians.

_{Bakardjieva, M. [Maria], Svensson, J. [Jakob] and Skoric, M. [Marko]. (2012). Digital Citizenship and Activism: Questions of Power and Participation Online. JeDEM - EJournal of EDemocracy and Open Government, 4(1), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v4i1.113}

Based on two studies, the authors link the interaction of online multiplayer games with the promotion of political debates on the Web and citizen engagement.

_{Tolmie, P. [Peter], Chamberlain, A. [Alan] and Benford, S. [Steve]. (2014). Designing for reportability: sustainable gamification, public engagement, and promoting environmental debate. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 18, 1763–1774. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-013-0755-y}

This communicative platform requires knowledge, vocabulary and suitable rules. It is the European Commission-funded Horizon 2020 programme implemented in Hamburg, Rome and London.

_{Khan, Z. [Zaheer] et al. (2017). Developing knowledge-based citizen participation platform to support smart city decision making: the smarticipate case study. Information, 8(2), 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/info8020047}

From the initial exposure, It also argues that some participation in digital environments could be classified as political participation. The author recommends the establishment of measures to quantify eParticipation at the same level as traditional participation.

_{Theocharis, Y. [Yannis]. (2015). The conceptualization of digitally networked participation. Social Media + Society, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305115610140}

A survey of 328 students from six faculties of Hacettepe University shows that the socioeconomic differences of individuals affect the use of e-governance apps. Thus, security, usage level and internet usage tendencies and skills are key to finding the solution to improving ICT usage in governance processes.

The web portal belongs to the MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (YPP), an initiative that believes that technology has an effect on youths' political participation and that this population segment is engaged, better informed and more involved.

This article takes as a reference the Telecoms Package campaign and discusses whether these types of campaigns are inclusive in terms of participation. It argues that these mobilizations are led by a small group specialized in technology and expert in political techniques.

_{Breindl, Y. [Yana]. (2012). The Dynamics of Participation and Organisation in European Digital Rights Campaigning. JeDEM - EJournal of EDemocracy and Open Government, 4(1), 24–44. https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v4i1.96}

It provides a definition of slacktivism and confronts the voices that state that online participation increases differences and weakens the influence of citizens.

_{Christensen, H. S. [Henrik Serup]. (2012). Simply slacktivism? Internet participation in Finland. JeDEM - EJournal of EDemocracy and Open Government, 4(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.29379/jedem.v4i1.93}