Electronic legislative initiative as a Tool to improve Citizens’ Public activity in Cyberspace: Common issues in the BriCs Countries, europe and the russian Federation

K Ivanova

doi:10.21684/2412-2343-2019-6-1-102-126

Abstract

Around the world, parliaments, governments, civil society organizations and even individual parliamentarians are taking measures to make the legislative process more participatory. A key instrument of such measures is e-democracy. In the 1980s, a number of pilot projects on electronic voting and online discussions were introduced. However, only since 2000, with the active development of the Internet, has considerable interest in utilizing electronic initiatives to advance democracy emerge. Today, researchers warn that despite all the talk about “e-democracy,” the circle of actual decision makers is likely to remain as small as it has been heretofore. In this article, the author analyzes the pros and cons of electronic initiatives in the BRICS countries, Europe and the Russian Federation, and provides practical information for improvement. The author suggests that the next step needed to improve civil activity in filing legislative initiatives is the application of a regular mechanism to establish the possibility of organizing the process of civil legislative initiative nomination and the collection of signatures in electronic form, in particular via the Internet, with the possible use of crowd sourcing technologies.

Highlights

Around the world, parliaments, governments, civil society organizations and even individual parliamentarians are taking measures to make the legislative process more participatory
The civil legislative initiative differs both from a referendum, because decisions made via referendum have the force of law, and from the right to appeal to the authorities with proposals that presuppose an answer, but do not require mandatory consideration at the legislative level
The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 4 March 201334 provides the possibility for citizens to file their legislative proposals through the electronic resource“Russian Public Initiative.”Yet it should be noted that citizens showed legislative activity even before introducing such mechanisms in the legal system: for example, the website podkontrol.ru, where an online petition was posted on the adoption of the law“On the Control of Foreign Financing of Non-Governmental Organizations.”

Summary

The Possibilities of Citizens’ E-legislation in the BRICS Countries

Since China initiated the Government Online Project in 1999 the number of websites with gov.cn registered as their domain reached 52,115 in 2014 and almost all governments at the county level and above have their own web portals (CNNIC, 2014) This growing trend of e-governance has propelled governments to be more open and transparent with data and information, making them more readily available to citizens. The online consultation channel is put in place with the intention to seek public opinions and suggestions on new or existing laws and policies Citizens can express their views through a link provided by the website or through e-mail. The aim of the PSP is to promote good governance and democratization in South African legislatures at the national and provincial levels and to assist them in the performance of their responsibilities These include legislation, policy formulation, executive oversight, constituency work, and public education and outreach. This country has the strong intention to develop electronic democracy

Citizens’ Legislation Initiatives in the Laws of European Countries

23 The European Citizens’ Initiative

Conclusion

Findings

35 Trust in Professions