The strength of democracy is measured through citizens’ participation in governance. To check the applicability of this theory in local context, the study determined the actual observance of a purposively selected group of professionals pursuing post graduate degree in Public Administration in the Philippines. Using Arnstein Measure of Community Participation, the paper found that there is low level of e-participation among participants as shown by their frequency of access and level of awareness on the city website. Strict adherence to the principle of e-democracy in actual practice is necessary. The paper concluded that electronic participation in governance is both a responsibility and a privilege. There is a need to improve citizens’ willingness to participate in local governance via electronic means. E democracy cannot stand in isolation from citizens’ participation. The study recommended that the Local Government Unit (LGU) should look for ways to bolster citizens’ use of the city website as a vehicle for democratic reforms and participation.
The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that, “Philippines is a republican and democratic state, sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them” [
Sherry Arnstein in 1969 argued that citizen participation is “synonymous to the present concept of inclusive governance where marginalized and powerless citizens could take part in governmental decision making and induces social reform which could make them share in the benefits of the affluent society” [
The advent of information technology intensifies opportunities available to the people to participate in governance by electronic means also known as E-participation. The proliferation of computer and development of digital technology, changes the way people participate in governance [
E-democracy in this study is conceived as dispersion of governmental power by providing wider space for civic participation and civic engagement to influence political decision making in the local government context via digital technology. E-democracy is closely interlinked with e-participation. Electronic participation is civic engagement through web based channel of communications intended to influence decision making in all areas of local government operation. It is more on the measurement of the selected professionals’ initiative to take part in governance by means of information sharing, exchanges and dissemination using electronic means [
The study tried to measure the level of selected professional students local governance engagement using web based platform and channel of communication using Arnstein’s ladder of community participation. Specifically, the study sought answer to the following questions:
1) How may the selected professional students’ awareness on the existence of LGU website be described?
2) How often do selected professional students visit the LGU website?
3) Why do selected professional students access the local government website?
4) How may the exact level of online civic engagement of selected professional students be described using Arnstein’s ladder of participatory governance?
The study described the manner selected professional students participated in the administration of their local government unit by using website and the internet. It is a descriptive research used to check actual practice against the theoretical foundation of electronic democracy. The Cabanatuan City government official website was used as a tool to gather data on the manner selected professional students participated in local affairs using web based channels of communication. Through questionnaires, interviews and observations, the study determined the level of selected professional students’ participation in local governance using electronic means. Analysis of graduate students’ exact degree of participation was measured using the eight tiers model for participatory governance developed by Sherry Arnstein in 1969. Questionnaires were developed and purposive sampling method was observed. The criteria for the determination of sample are as follows:
a) Residents of Cabanatuan City; b) currently enrolled in the graduate program, major in Public Administration; c) not employees of the local government unit under consideration; and d) a registered voter of the City. Through the application of the criteria a total of 52 participants were selected.
The strength of democracy is measured through citizens’ participation in local governance. The study is guided by the principle that citizen participation is citizens’ power [
The theory of Arnstein is applied by looking into the two sides of local governance. The demand side (people) and the supply side (local government unit [
The study is premised on the conceptual framework of E commerce Act of 2000 and based on the goal that by 2010 all public institutions must serve as role model to private corporations in terms of investment and use of website and the internet. The private corporation shall cooperate and coordinate as well as emulate government agencies in their thrush of providing governance services and information via website. It has also the mandate to engage in partnership agreement and investment with the government in the area of information technology infrastructure and building information platform. In the use of information technology, communication between citizens and government increases resulting in civic engagement and greater degree of democratic participation [
The second phase of development in using IT platform in governance is the interaction phase. The Citizens on the one hand, interact with government officials via e-mail, facebook, twitter or other mass and social media format and the delivery of services thru electronic means when applicable. The E-Commerce Act of 2000 mandates the government to provide platform for electronic engagement with citizens. Accordingly,
“Within two (2) years from the effectively of this Act, there shall be installed an electronic online network in accordance with Administrative Order 332 and House of Representatives Resolution 890, otherwise known as RPWEB, to
implement Part IV of this Act to facilitate the open, speedy and efficient electronic online transmission, conveyance and use of electronic data messages or electronic documents amongst all government departments, agencies, bureaus, offices down to the division level The RP WEB is the means to deliver services by all government agencies”.
In fact it requires that:
The RPWEB network shall serve as initial platform of the government information infrastructure (GII) to facilitate the electronic online transmission and conveyance of government services to evolve and improve by better technologies or kinds and electronic online wide area networks utilizing, but not limited to, fiber optic, satellite, wireless and other broadband telecommunication mediums or modes” (Section 28, E Commerce Act).
In this particular phase of public governance thru information technology development, the interaction between citizens and government is not just to get information but to react on request for information available through the website. In this phase, decision making and consultation activities are part of routine execution of duties of the local government. This phase is marked with civic engagement phase. As depicted in
The last and final phase of public governance through information technology is the interaction-request-and delivery phase where services needed are done via the internet and web facilitation e.g. permits, licenses, authenticated certificates and the like. This phase is the highest Information Technology development phase where citizens’ participation is at its maximum. Therefore, the study posits that there are two crucial phases in the development of information technology in governance: the interaction phase and the interaction-request-delivery-phase. They are both treated by the study as acts of civic engagement. The conceptual framework when coupled with the theoretical framework of Arnstein measure of community participation can effectively assess the degree of civic engagement and participation that graduate students’ availed of in the governance of the locality. The study was done during the Academic Year 2012-2013.
The professional students’ knowledge on the existence of Cabanatuan City website is shown on
The table also indicates respondents’ knowledge on the city government website (Item 15) which shows that 48 or 92 percent of professional students have
Item Number | Frequency | |
---|---|---|
Yes | No | |
1) I have a set of personal computer unit | 48 | 4 |
2) I access the internet | 46 | 6 |
3) I connect the internet using public service | 33 | 19 |
4) I connect the internet using private settings | 43 | 9 |
5) I enter in the chat room | 11 | 41 |
6) I have personal webpage | 7 | 45 |
7) I have my own web account | 18 | 34 |
8) I have a twitter account | 11 | 41 |
9) I have e-mail address | 52 | 0 |
10) I have face book account | 52 | 0 |
11) I send or receive e-mail via the internet | 52 | 0 |
12) I have a website regularly visited | 52 | 7 |
13) I am aware of the Cabanatuan City webpage | 27 | 25 |
14) I have accessed the Cabanatuan City webpage | 21 | 31 |
15) I accessed the page for civic engagement | 5 | 47 |
personal computers while 46 or 88 percent of the respondents have internet connections. A large number of respondents’ have the potential to connect and access government website. This explains why a total of forty three 43 or 90 percent of 48 participants with personal computers accessed the internet using private settings.
The data also show that 49 of the 52 participants equivalent to 94 percent of the total respondents claimed that they accessed the internet for research purpose. The responses also show that 52 or 100 percent of the selected professional students had e-mail address and experienced sending or receiving mail or information using their e-mail address. This is a positive sign that the respondents can avail of the technological advancement which can be used to process reliable and accurate information when and where they are needed. Among the respondents, 45 or 87 percent of the respondents revealed that they regularly visited some websites. According to interviews, those websites have something to do with research and educational information necessary to aid them finish their report, assignment or term paper in the graduate program. Out of 52 participants or 87 percent of the total respondents, only 21 or 45 percent have accessed the Cabanatuan City web site. This finding is supported by the fact that only 27 or 52 percent of selected professional students are aware that the City government maintains website where electorate could access and take advantage of, to share views, participate in decision making and discuss pressing issues confronting them.
On the other hand, 25 or 48 percent of the respondents are not aware that the City government has a website. While only 27 respondents or 52 percent claimed that they knew the existence of websites. Meanwhile, 36 respondents of the 48 who have personal computers, or 69 percent consider lack of time and being preoccupied with other concerns as the factors preventing them from participating in public governmental decision on line. This goes to show that aside from being unaware, those who are aware constitute only a small portion of the total number of respondents and they needed time to access and undertake civic engagement.
The finding reveals that the mentioned websites are indeed potential tools for advancing political interest. They have also the potential to promote and widen democratic participation in local governance as found in most articles written by political social scientist. Social networking and messaging websites got the two
Item Number | Frequency | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Once a year | Once every six months | Once a month | Once a week | Everyday | Total | % | ||
1) Banking website | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 21% | |
2) Commerce and trade website | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 40% | |
3) Entertainment website | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 26% | |
4) Local government website | 0 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 40% | |
5) Messaging website | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 25 | 52 | 100% | |
6) Nationa government website | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 29% | |
7) Research website | 0 | 5 | 16 | 31 | 0 | 52 | 100% | |
8) Social networking website | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 36 | 52 | 100% | |
9) Sports website | 0 | 0 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 20 | 38% | |
10) Travels and tours website | 6 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 38% | |
Total Frequency | 6 | 10 | 10 | 33 | 61 | 272 | 72% | |
highly visited websites having 61 and 33 respondents saying that they visited the website everyday and every month respectively. Banking and national government websites are the least visited websites. The local government website is visited by 40 percent of the respondents. The table indicates enough opportunities to access the government website. However, most often than not, it is the social networking site that is visited by the graduate students. Although looking into the various discussions in the social networking website visited, some of the subject of conversations are political in complexion and has something to do with local and national governance. It is noteworthy to mention here that political culture in the Philippines is pervaded by personalism. This could be the reason why graduate students talked about politics in social networking site and among themselves instead of directly communicating their opinions through ICT with the people in power. That the Philippine political culture is so personal that objective interpretation of things political must always consider the openness of the political leader to listen or otherwise be offended personality by the objective political position of the electorate on a certain issue. This requires the government to take the lead to encourage citizens’ participation towards democratic reforms if it wants electronic democracy to thrive and realize. Electronic participation should not be treated by the government and political leaders as a discreet activity among and between citizens and the government but instead a day to day activity sine qua non and a prerequisite in the management of democratic institution.
Item Number | YES | NO | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|
1) To inquire into the government services on the City webpage | 21 | 31 | 52 |
2) To access public records | 21 | 31 | 52 |
3) To inquire into the City budget | 21 | 31 | 52 |
4) To look into approved city ordinances or resolution | 21 | 21 | 52 |
5) To influence policymaking | 5 | 47 | 52 |
6) To cast votes on a local issue | 0 | 52 | 52 |
7) To attend public hearing through the internet | 0 | 52 | 52 |
8) To oppose government decision on a certain issue | 0 | 52 | 52 |
9) To complaint city government personnel service | 5 | 47 | 52 |
10) To provide feedback to the city government | 5 | 47 | 52 |
Majority or 49 out of 52 students accessed the websites not the Cabanatuan City website to do their research requirements in the graduate program. Indeed, the internet is a rich source of data necessary to do research. The website maintained more than 5 billion stored information, from which relevant information and reading materials may be selected to bolster research output [
E-democracy is not favored by most politicians due to its threat to their political positions. E-democracy is of the nature of power sharing whereby ordinary citizens may have the chance to question the acts and decisions of people in power. E-democracy is also a means available to political opponents to reveal the shortcomings of the incumbent. E-democracy uses Information Technology to make elected officials more accountable to the voting public. The responses reveal that graduate students seldom use the internet for democratic practice. The internet is used for e-government more than for e-democracy. The reasons presented above having higher degree of responses are items pertaining to e -operation rather than e-democracy. All in all there are only 21 respondents or 40 percent out of 52 respondents who claimed that they have accessed the Cabanatuan City website to participate in local government operation.
In the light of what has been narrated by the respondents, it is clearly shown that e-democracy is far from its realization in the local context. The concept of e democracy is for the citizens to partake of governance responsibility. It is a means that appeals to the motivation of the people who would avail of the means. And most likely, and in the absence of ordinary citizens partaking of local governance via the internet, the political opponents of the incumbent politician who would avail of the means to decrease the chances of re -election of the incumbent. It is also the reason cited that some of the crucial records and decisions made by the incumbent are not posted on the webpage.
E-democracy is building a consensus out of political agreement and disagreement among political actors. But when the most important element of e-democracy, that is citizens participation, is lacking, information technology can only be used by politicians to control the release of information to the detriment of democratic institution and in some parts of the globe, even put up a totalitarian regime. Therefore, reshaping the democratic space through e-participation is more of a duty of every citizen. Strengthening democratic space relies greatly on the exercise of the privilege vested in every electorate. As all democratic systems in world would guarantee, the Philippines is a democratic system where sovereign power resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. E-democracy is not democracy without adequate citizens’ participation. United they stand, divided they fall.
Development in digital technology provides impetus for the changing political landscape. The advent of computer undeniably made the life of citizens more convenient but also contributed to efficient and effective management of public and private organizations. The local government unit being in the forefront of countryside development takes advantage of this technology. As the study showed, the knowledge of graduate school students on the existence of local government website is considerably high. But the frequency of access (participation) to the Cabanatuan City website is extremely low. Many did not even access the website to get information pertaining to local governance posted on the webpage. Many are having the potentials to access the website and influenced local governance but only a few did. Majority are preoccupied with other concerns (academic requirements) that they did not avail of the opportunity to influence local governance via the internet. The level of participation if there is, can be considered as non participation. This is the level that Arnstein level of community engagement refers to as either manipulation or placation.
Electronic participation in local governance is both a responsibility and a privilege. The data showed that only five (5) of the graduate students who are residents of Cabanatuan accessed the web for information purpose. None of them did so for civic interaction or participation. Thus, the importance of information technology to local governance is negated by their complacent attitude towards the use of computer to contribute to local development and governance. Particularly in the areas of: 1) planning, 2) decision making and 3) political mobilization. The graduate school students are professionals and a reservoir of potential technocrats, bureaucrats and think tanks useful for local government administration and development. By the nature of their courses enrolled and their academic training and preparation, it is surprising to note that majority have not taken advantage of government websites to influence decision making in local setting.
The effort of the local government units to put up Information Technology infrastructure cannot bear sufficient fruits if the manner and mechanism for the use of modern technology for political participation is not known and availed of by its constituents. As the E-Commerce Act provides, it is mandatory for LGU to allot funds and personnel to build IT infrastructure and platform for citizen’s participation. Therefore, not much is gained when citizens themselves are not availing of the medium for local governance participation. The development and applicability of modern technology to governance depends to a great extent on the willingness of citizens to take part in a democratic governance.
In view of this observation, it is recommended that:
The Local Government Unit of Cabanatuan to undertake government led initiative to increase the level of awareness of its constituents on the potential of web and internet for citizens’ active participation. And for the concerned citizens, including the graduate students to spearhead the task of participatory governance by taking advantage of the availability of internet and government websites to take part in crucial public decision making process. Meanwhile, the institution of higher learning may strengthen linkages to local government by requiring students to do research on local government administration. The future researchers may come up with studies measuring the degree of participation of citizens in governance. These would provide an accurate evaluation of the local government unit’s observance of democratic precepts and participatory governance independent and separate from the claim and pronouncement of the local government unit involved. After all, participatory democracy and governance are the business of citizens and government. Participatory democracy is a government of consensus where decision is a product of political agreements or disagreements. It is a responsibility of the parties in a social contract. It is neither imposed nor presumed by one of the contracting parties.
My gratitude to my students in the NEUST Graduate School who participated in the study as respondents and to Mr. Anthony San Pedro for manuscript encoding.
Bawan, O.M., Marcos, M.I.P. and Gabriel, A.G. (2017) E-Participation of Selected Professional Students in the Governance of Cabanatuan City in the Philippines. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5, 126-139. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2017.512010