Andy Williamson: The internet can make politicians listen to public voice

There’s nothing new in this; Downing Street launched a similar system in 2006 which closed last year to make way for the new one. Wales and Scotland have ePetitions too, as do many local councils and the European Parliament.

It’s not just government; civil society groups such as the relatively new, internet-based 38 Degrees are using ePetitions as part of their campaigning toolkit.

DirectGov’s new system offers one unique chance to the public; your petition could be debated in Parliament. Although the exact process is unclear, the promise is that petitions will be reviewed by the Backbench Business Committee. Those with more than 100,000 signatures will be “eligible” for a debate. Based on the German Parliament’s experience, this could mean around five petitions a year.

It is unclear what will make a petition worthy of debate, or of rejection for that matter.

This highlights a problem with ePetitions. While useful, trying to measure their value simply by counting signatures is flawed.

It’s easy to get signatures for populist causes. Despite the noise generated in some quarters around capital punishment, polls show that the public are not by-and-large in favour of it.

Yet the first ePetition we’re likely to see on the new system could be a call for just that. And given the vocal minority it is quite likely to meet the threshold for debate.

The problem comes because the barriers to signing an ePetition are very low. Some experts dismiss it as “slacktivism” – token engagement with democracy from your armchair. This is perhaps a little unfair as signing a petition is the second most likely democratic act after voting.

Petitions do, though, tend to lack any kind of conversational or educative focus and they seldom provide an opportunity to engage in a reasoned debate.

So what else could we do? In the UK we have a problem with democracy. People take it for granted: the Hansard Society’s annual Audit of Political Engagement tells us that most people don’t understand it and don’t want to know more about how it all works. And that’s a problem: we are disconnected. Politics in England is dominated by the three main parties, yet membership of all three has consistently fallen since the 1950s.

Our work shows that, where people are online, they prefer to get involved online. Parliament has slowly started to recognise this by looking at alternative ways to engage a sceptical public.

Parliament has developed an effective website; it’s one of the best of its kind. You’ll find all the information you need so long as you understand the process and you know what you’re looking for.

Parliament also uses Facebook and Twitter, videos posted on YouTube and works with the Hansard Society on Lords of the Blog, where members of the House of Lords talk about their work.

A few Parliamentary committees use the internet to gather evidence. Some even use popular websites like Mumsnet and MoneySavingExpert.com to try and get the views of people not inside the Westminster bubble.

We’re also seeing individual MPs turning to the internet and social media; more than one third are on Twitter. Some have adapted more successfully than others and many have simply turned the internet into an extension of their newsletters. Others use these new tools to ask questions, seek feedback and, most importantly, to listen.

This is a step forward but is still limited. If we are to engage more with our democratic systems it’s not just up to us to get more involved but for those in charge to come and meet us at least half way. The internet has moved from information to social, so has become an ideal place to rebuild trust and interest in democracy. That’s why democracy has to move out of Westminster and Whitehall and move back amongst the people, providing paths to engagement that work for us.

These channels need to be open, transparent and accountable. They have to be two-way, not simply broadcasting or leaving the public talking to each other with nobody in Parliament listening. This isn’t just about tools and technology, it needs better education and awareness building as much as it needs the internet, Facebook and 38 Degrees. We need to learn how to participate and engage; and we need to learn why it matters.

The internet isn’t a panacea for a new, revitalised democracy but it is a chance to reinvent things so they are more relevant, accessible and responsive to our modern society.

* Dr Andy Williamson is director of the hansard society Digital Democracy Programme.