From E to O

Abstract

In analogy to the semantic evolution from e-government to open government, the paper at hand introduces the term open participation as a further development of e-participation and highlights the role of open participation as a guiding principle of open government. It aims to counterbalance tendencies that reduce open government to open data and transparency, and stresses that these are necessary but not sufficient means to reach the goals of open government. Open participation, as a guiding principle of open government, accounts for the need to create spaces of interaction between the state and its citizens and to facilitate cross-media participation of citizens in political decision-making processes. Open participation goes beyond e-participation in that it puts openness at the heart of participation processes. Rather than an end in itself, e-participation is thus a valuable method to put into practice the goals of open participation. The paper identifies three different dimensions of openness –transparency, inclusiveness and receptiveness – which are key factors of successful open participation projects.