Transcript Eye on the E-Citizen

Eye on the e-Citizen
Presentation prepared in
December 2002 – Still timely
By Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Eye on the e-Citizen
Presentation Outline
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Citizen Life
E-reality
Activating e-Citizens
Conclusion
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Introduction
Introduction
• e-Citizen
October 20, 2012
• What do you
envision?
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Introduction
• E-democracy is:
– the use information and
communication
technologies and strategies
Political
Organizations
– by “democratic
sectors”
Private
Sector
Government
– within the political
processes of local
communities, states,
nations and on the global
stage.
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Media and
Commercial
Content
Introduction
• E-democracy:
– is now, what kind is it?
Political
Organizations
– is accelerating “as is”
politics
GovernmentE-Citizens
– will promote active
citizen participation
and the public
interest only if the
“e-citizen” perspective is
understood and built
upon
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Media and
Commercial
Content
Private
Sector
Introduction
• E-democracy should seek to:
– improve the democratic outcomes of the
policy/political process
– engage citizens directly in meeting public
challenges
• Involvement for the sake of involvement has
limited value.
• E-democracy must make a qualitative
difference.
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Introduction
• Questions to consider …
• What does the e-citizen:
–
–
–
–
experience?
think?
say they want?
really do online?
• How can we best use online tools and
strategies to achieve better public
outcomes?
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Citizen Life
Citizen Life
• Time – People are busy.
– Time use studies provide valuable insights.
– Civic activities account for a small portion of
time.
– The United States is starting one now.
– Most studies have found that Internet use
displaces time spent with mass media.
– Information and interactivity can reach people
at different places through different
technologies and channels.
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Citizen Life
• Confidence and Trust – Not much?
– The public is less confident in itself than our leaders.
How much confidence do you have in the public as a whole when it
comes to making judgments about what general direction elected and
government officials should take on various issues facing the nation?
Source: Public Perspective – Government by the People, Kaiser Family Fund survey released
March 30, 2001
– Trust in government low – 69% trust it to handle national
security, only 38% trust it to handle domestic social
issues, 61% sometimes/never
Source: ABC News, January 2002 in Public Perspectives July/Aug 2002
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Citizen Life
• Voting – Sometimes.
– In 2002, ~39% of eligible voters voted
• Record lows in CA 31.5%, AZ 27%, IN 34%, etc.
• National highs MN 61.4%, SD 61.3%, ME 50.6%
Source: Committee for the Study of the American Electorate
– In 2000, 50% of eligible voters voted, citizen response:
• Democratic system is strong and working well: 25%
• Democratic system not strong and not working well: 67%
Source: NBC News/Wall Street Journal, Dec 7-10, 2000
– Young voters (18-24)?
• 16% voted in 1998 mid-term election (Census Bureau)
• 13% predicted in 2002 (no exit polls) (Press report)
• UK YVote?YNot report: If not sure how, 76% would ask
parents how to vote, 9 % at polling station, 5% a friend
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Citizen Life
• Influence – 68% of the public feels the views of the majority should
influence government decisions “a great deal,” 26% a
fair amount
– 9% feel the majority actually has a great deal of
influence, 41% a fair amount
– Disconnect - Policy leaders and media see the public
having a much greater impact than the public sees
– Disconnect 2 – Public underestimates influence of
lobbyists and special interests as well as the influence
they have when they contact government/elective
leaders
– Disconnect 3 – The public wants campaign contributors
and journalists to have less influence than others
Source: Public Perspective – Government by the People, Kaiser Family Fund
survey released March 30, 2001
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Citizen Life
• Connecting - Civic things we want.
– The “best ways for officials to learn what a majority of
people in our country think about important issues.”
Source: Kaiser
– “Very important” Campaign conduct
• candidates agreeing to participate in forums where the
public can question candidates directly – 75%
• agreeing to participate in public debates - 71%
• disclosing campaign finances in the Internet - 44%
•
Source: Public Perspectives, Nov/Dec 2002
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Citizen Life
• Citizen Categories
– 3. Passive
– 1. Active
•
•
•
•
•
• Watch TV news
sometimes
• Sometimes vote
• Turned off by politics
Always vote
Belong to civic groups
Attend public meetings
Write to public officials
Donate to
campaigns/causes
– 4. Disengaged
– 2. Informed
• Read newspapers,
watch/listen to news
• Feel informed,
sometimes act
• Normally vote
• Tuned out, news?
• Don’t vote
• Often young
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Citizen Life
• Making a difference – Questions to ask
– What encourages citizens to get involved? To
change their normal routine?
– What makes involvement an empowering
experience? What frustrates people?
– What forms of participation can compete for
attention? What about online forms?
– What strategies work better with different
types of citizens? How do we complement
what we know works with online assistance?
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
e-Reality
e-Reality
• American adults online – Slow growth?
– Percentage of adults online in the U.S. – 59%
– Percentage of those online who went online yesterday – 57% (or
34% of all adults or 64 million people)
– Online at home? 43% yesterday, 45% not yesterday,
12% don’t go online at home
– Online at work? 25% yesterday, 25% not yesterday,
50% don’t go online from work
– Numbers holding steady over last year.
Source: Pew Internet Oct 2002 Survey
– Affluent population drives current Internet user growth 11-20%,
households under $50,000/yr less than 5% Source: Neilsen/NetRatings
• Population % online varies by state:
– Top: AK 68.8, MN 63.5, NH 63.5, WY 62.3, MD 61.4
– Lower: CA 52.1, TX 51.2 … AL, AK, LA, MI 46.2 – 41.8
Source: 2002 State New Economy Index, using government NTIA 2001 data
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
e-Reality
• Time on the web, average each month
– Work
– Home
•
•
•
•
12:07 hours
visit 49 sites
23 sessions
55 seconds a page
• 31:08 hours
• visit 95 sites
• 56 sessions
• 61 seconds a page
Source: Neilsen/NetRatings October 2002
• Broadband (BB) provides “always-on”
convenience
– As of Jan. 2002, 1/2 time online from BB users, only 21% of athome online pop. (not households) have BB in U.S..
Source: Neilsen/NetRatings
– South Korea, 95% of users have BB ~$28 month and spend
16:17 hours online each month
Source: ACNeilsen eRatings
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
e-Reality
• Where oh where online – From home, Oct. 2002
U.S. Government
ranks #4 from work.
Wasn’t measured
until this year.
Source: Neilsen/Netratings
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
e-Reality
• E-mail is king
– Top three web properties include e-mail centric uses.
– Pew Internet - Of adult Internet users each day:
•
•
•
•
50% send/read e-mail, 93% have ever
29% use search engine, 85% have ever
3% buy a product, 61% have ever
5% download music files, 32% have ever
– Opt-in E-mail newsletters are hot, click-through range from
9.5% by catalog companies to 4.4% for the hospitality industry,
Source: DoubleClick
– Web banner ad click-through often under 0.5%
• E-mail strengthens private connections among family and
friends. What about “public life?”
– Online groups offer opportunity – 84% of Net users have used
the net to contact or get information from a group. 79% of
them stay in regular online contact Source: Pew Internet, Online Communities
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
e-Reality
• Getting Informed
– According to Markle Foundation Internet Acct. Survey:
• 91% Internet users find the Internet informative
• Top benefits: 61% cite information/knowledge, 27% email/communication, 23% convenient/fast, 5% shopping
• Image: 45% library, 15% highway, 14% mall … 3% town hall
Source: Markle Foundation Internet Accountability Study Chapter 1
– More Pew Internet daily numbers:
• 26% Get news online on average day, 68% have ever
• 11% Look for political news/information, 45% have ever (rising)
• 9% Visit a government web site, 56% have ever
– Power Users access online newspapers
• 37% have broadband at home, three times more likely to have high
speed office connection
• Readers are online almost twice the average 18:00 versus 10:00
• General users online 5-10pm when newspaper sites receive lowest use
• 48% sought local news past year
• 47% like e-mail best, 15% national/world news, 9% local news
• 13% interested in political news, (37% yes in their online survey)
Source: Power Users: Profile of Online Newspaper Consumers, May 2002
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
e-Reality
• Trust. Online?
– 23% feel you can trust most things you read online
– 70% feel you have to question truthfulness of most things you
read online
Source: Markle Internet Accountability Survey
• Trust. Credibility. Usability. Looks Matter.
– Net users trust Federal government more than web sites
offering consumer advice, selling products
– Users say they want:
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. Easy to navigate sites
2. Ability to trust site information
3. Ability to identify information sources
4. Knowing site is updated frequently
5. Being able to find out important fact about a site
6. Knowing who owns the web site
– Credible sites must actually look good first except for nonprofit sites where identity of site operator was top concern
Source: Consumer WebWatch’s A Matter of Trust and How do People Evaluate a Web Site’s Credibility
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Activating e-Citizens
Activating e-Citizens
• Combining civic life with e-reality.
• Need to figure out what people say they want
versus what they really do.
• In general, we need more survey research and
analysis on strategic use of the Internet/ICTs to
improve citizen participation, policy development,
and governance between elections.
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Activating e-Citizens
• e-Citizens – Online campaigning, someone always wins/loses
– 2002 information on Internet role in elections emerging
• Provider of election information to major sites reported 60% increase
in traffic in 2002 - Source: Capitol Advantage
• Politicalweb.info found that 64% of all candidates for U.S. House, U.S.
Senate, and Governor had their own web sites. Incumbents 75%,
challengers 60%, third parties 45% - Source: Politicalweb.info
– From the Institute for Politics Democracy and the Internet (fmr
Democracy Online Project) in 2000. Of internet users:
• 54% sent or received e-mail jokes about the candidates or campaign
• 39% sent or received e-mail about the election with friends or family
• 35% used the Net to get information about politics, campaigns, or
issues – of this group, 40% felt Net important to deciding their vote
• 25% contacted or got information about political campaigns
• 10% contacted partisan interest groups
• 10% participated in live chat or web-based discussion
• 2% donated money to non-partisan organizations
• 1% donated money to political candidates
Source: Post-Election 2000 Survey on Internet Use for Civics and Politics
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Activating e-Citizens
•
e-Citizens – E-Government and accountability
–
E-Government must deliver democracy not just service. Survey
says, most important benefit of e-government:
•
•
•
•
36% Government more accountable to citizens
23% Greater public access to information
21% More efficient/cost-effective government
13% More convenient government services
Source: Center for Excellence in Government, E-Government – The Next American Revolution, Sept 2000
–
How can e-gov improve accountability – most important way?
•
•
•
•
29% allow citizens to communicate their opinions on major issues
to officials quickly and easily
21% allow citizens to tell government agencies about info they need
or problems they experience
21% give the public more info about the govt’s policies & decisions
Also, 66% say that it is very or fairly important that e-government
investments enable them to stay informed and voice their concerns
and opinions to Congress
Source: Ctr. Excellence in Gov, e-Government to Connect, Protect, and Serve Us , Feb 2002
–
36% gov’t web sites users have high trust in government
compared to 22% of those online with high trust who have not
Source: Center for Excellence in Government, January 2001 Supplemental Poll
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Activating e-Citizens
•
e-Citizens – Elected Officials and E-mail
–
Local elected officials use e-mail effectively
•
•
•
•
•
•
88% for their official duties, 61% daily
73% online officials say e-mail with constituents helps them better
understand public opinion
56% improves relations with local groups
32% have been persuaded by e-mail campaigns on merit
21% e-mail lobbying campaigns opened eyes to strong opinions about
which they were previously unaware
61% of online officials agree e-mail can facilitate public debate, but 38%
say e-mail alone can’t carry full debate on complex issues
Source: Pew Internet – Digital Town Hall, Oct. 2002
–
Citizens in online groups provide foundation for two-way
governance
•
•
•
–
13% often or sometimes email public officials
11% of Internet users say they are aware of at least one local issue
where the net played a role in organizing citizens to communicate with
public officials.
Percentage doubles to 22% for Internet users who are active members
of online communities. Source: Pew Internet, Online Communities
E-mail overload and spam a problem in U.S. Congress
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Activating e-Citizens
• What to do?
– Develop strategies that attempt to move citizens up one
step
•
•
•
•
1. Active citizens
2. Informed citizens
3. Passive citizens
4. Disengaged citizens
– Most “e-democracy” projects sought multi-step
improvements (shot for moon, got half-way) and did not
meet overly optimistic expectations
– Develop support for democracy at each level with
appropriate technologies and strategies
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Activating e-Citizens
• Disengaged citizens
– Start early – develop online civic K-12
education components that establish
expectations for Internet/ICTs use in society
– 18-30 – Find out where they really are online,
what they do online and work to introduce
tailored political information experiences
within those sites
– Be realistic – the Internet is a medium that
normally requires information seeking
– Study how low income/education groups use
the Internet, purchase cheaper banner ad
space for “civic” branding efforts?
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Activating e-Citizens
• Passive Citizens
– Utilize “Tell a friend” and viral e-mail features.
– Create a site where parents/relatives can
create an online voter/participation information
CARE package with “tracking” for senders
– Leverage e-government service transaction
opportunities (online taxes, etc.) to introduce
trust building information
– Partner with local news and entertainment
sites to build awareness of civic news and
opportunities, particularly volunteer listings
– Online polls are entry point activity
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Activating e-Citizens
• Informed Citizens
– MyBallot.Net 2004 et al
• Presidential primary offers tremendous early opportunity for
.org/media online participation efforts
• Change the relationship between informed
undecided/persuadable voters and the campaigns
– “Select a candidate/party” concepts highly popular, adapt
for use between elections
– Online advocacy – share best practices, study ill effects,
online efforts that improve things – avoid turning off
informed citizens
– Develop online “constituent services” from elected officials
– Bring “public life” into e-mail communication through
neighborhood and city/regional online groups – “the
commons online”
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Activating e-Citizens
• Active citizens
– e-Citizen Portal – Create a trusted national network of local
and state starting points for effective citizen participation –
cannot be top-down
• Help the 1% who “show up,” including elected officials,
interest groups, and activists improve public policy outcomes
• Connect people and organizations solving public problems
from the local level on up based on communities of
practice/interest
– Hold “Online Town Halls” or consultations – primarily
hosted by government and non-profits
– Extend the “Commons Online” up to statewide and
national info exchange networks, connect to Congress
– Establish Government E-Democracy applications –
including personalized meeting notices, and legislative
issue tracking
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Conclusion
Conclusion
• Measure and evaluate the right things
– Does it save the time it takes to become informed
or sustain involvement?
– Does it increase the quality of the information
available in desired formats and delivery
channels?
– Does it enable society and government to
effectively accommodate and incorporate higher
levels of input and involvement?
– Does it build “public life,” strengthen trust among
people and their government, or inspire us to
believe that we can make a difference?
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Conclusion
• The Internet and ICTs are accelerating “as is”
politics.
• We must intervene in the public interest
based on our experience and knowledge.
• It is time use the advantages of this new
medium to improve people’s lives and the
world around us.
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net
Further Information
• Democracies Online Newswire
http://www.e-democracy.org/do
Over 2500 people around the world exchanging
announcements, news, and articles related to e-democracy,
e-government, and e-politics.
• E-Democracy Resources Flyer
http://publicus.net/articles/edemresources.html
Links to the top e-democracy starting points on a two page
flyer available in HTML, Word, and PDF.
• Publicus.Net
http://www.publicus.net
More articles and presentations by Steven Clift
Eye on the e-Citizen
Copyright 2002, Steven Clift, Publicus.Net