The role of democracy in immigrant inclusion by eParticipation

The role of democracy in immigrant inclusion by

eParticipation

Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi University of Helsinki

International Joint Workshop Immigrant Inclusion by e-Participation

November 2011

Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011

Power of information

• “Throughout history communication and information have been fundamental sources of power and counter-power, of domination and social change…

• This is because the fundamental battle being fought in society is the battle over the minds of the people…

• The way people think determines the fate of norms and values on which societies are constructed. “

(Castells, 2007)


E-participation models

• Many (e)participation models – Arnstein (1969)

– IAP2 (International association for public participation)

– Tambouris

– Macintosh

• Many (e)participation models understand democracy as a progress on vertical ladder, where depending on the democracy model, the most democratic activity is often voting and/or empowerment.

• They all have very different views to democracy (Grönlund, 2009.)


Ladder of participation Arnstein, 1969


International Association for Public Participation


E-participation (Macintosh, 2004)

E-empowering •Supporting active participation and facilitating bottom-up ideas to influence the political agenda. • The recognition that there is a need for allowing citizens to influence and participate in policy formulation.

E-engaging • Consulting a wider audience to enable deeper contributions and support deliberative debate on policy issues. • Top-down consultation of citizens by government or parliament.

E-enabling • Supporting access to the internet • Providing relevant and understandable information


E-participation (Tambouris, 2008)

E-Empowerment the delegation of final decision-making rights to the public, and implementing what citizens decide.

E-Collaborating enhanced two-way communication between citizens and government, a full partnership enabling citizens to actively participate in the development of alternatives and the identification of preferred solutions.

E-Involving about working online with the public throughout a process to ensure that public concerns are understood and taken into consideration.

E-Consulting a limited two-way channel that has the objective of collecting public feedback and alternatives

E-Informing one-way communication that provides citizens with information concerning policies and citizenship online.


Citizen power

• “Citizen participation is a categorical term for citizen power.

• It is the redistribution of power that enables the have-not citizens, presently excluded from the political and economic processes, to be deliberately included in the future.

• It is the strategy by which the have-nots join in determining how information is shared, goals and policies are set, tax resources are allocated, programs are operated, and benefits like contracts and patronage are parcelled out”

• (Arnstein: 1969:1 of the online version).

Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant

Inclusion and eParticipation 2011

The characteristics of participation

• “is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process.

• includes the promise that the public's contribution will influence the decision.

• promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision makers.

• seeks out and facilitates the involvement of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision

• seeks input from participants in designing how they participate. • provides participants with the information they need to participate in a

meaningful way. • communicates to participants how their input affected the decision.” Source: International Association of Public Participation (2011)


http://www.iap2.org/

Challenges to participation

• a significant level of distrust of citizens vis-à-vis politicians, political

parties, parliaments, and to a lesser extent, governments.

• the relationship between technology, communication, and power reflects opposing values and interests, and engages a plurality of social actors in conflict.

• Opposing attitudes, values and experiences of “natives” and “immigrants”.

• Who is an immigrant? Our view of migrants.


What kind of e-participation?

• Coleman (2010) distinguishes two: – Managed e- participation: e-participation that is

initiated by institutional politics.

– Autonomous e- participation: e-participation that takes place in new forms.

• Immigrants' and citizens' e-participation is often autonomous regardless of institutional politics. – Mass communication, via SMS, Facebook, blogs,

podcasts, wikis, tweets etc.

Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant

Inclusion and eParticipation 2011

Critical review of involvement

• How empowered do the governments really wish the immigrants to become?

• What are the opportunities of immigrants to be equal partners of decision-making processes?

• Immigrant definition = always outside?

– a non-participant – who should not have too much power?

– Politicised and racialized term

• Citizenship = equal rights (to vote, etc.)


Models of democracy (e.g. Habermas 2006, Dewey 1946)

• Liberal Representative democracy – delegating power to the delegate: ”administrative employment

of political power” – Voting – Rights of citizens protected by the government

• Republican representative democracy – Personal interests – Decentralised regulations of market

• Deliberative democracy – consensus building – Deliberation by whom? (legal community)

• Direct democracy – Initiating legislations – -localised democracy


Ways of ”national” participation for immigrants

Traditional Participation

Cultural participation

Own ethnic associations

Other cultural associations

Social participation

Membership in

pro-immigrant organizations and

associations representing

immigrant interests

Political participation

Membership in political parties and

trade unions

Consultative Forums and Advisory Boards

Petitioning

Older and new ways of

participation

Diplomacy

Transnational or international intervention

Participation as a protest

Demonstrations

Online & off-line


Horizontal Cosmopolitan Participation

• a horizontal and cosmopolitan dimension of cultural, social and political participation (Tikka& Sassi, 2011) of heterogeneous group of migrants in a deliberative and more authentic democracy.

• the development of interactive, horizontal networks of communication has induced the rise of a new form of communication, mass self-communication, over the Internet and wireless communication networks. (Castells, 2007)

• Horizontal political will formation: solidarity and orientation to the common good – a third source of social integration (Habermas, 1996).

– Aims at mutual understanding and communicatively achieved consensus


Cultural - social – political participation

Policy Brief no 6, 2011 states: • Civic and community engagement can also be seen to be one of the first forms of

politics which are employed by the immigrants, since newcomers – regardless of their status of citizenship – can always participate in civic activities.

• Civic involvement of immigrants is important for several reasons, both as a tool to

represent group interests and as a forum for political and cultural socialization that creates social networks and communities.

• For immigrants without full rights to participate in elections, being civically

engaged is useful for them to create, express and maintain a collective identity (DeSipio, 2011)

Source: Political inclusion and participation (2011) On the Margins of the European Community: Young Adults

with Immigration Background in Seven European Countries . POLICY BRIEF no. 6. By Kristjan Kaldur (Institute of Baltic Studies), Katrine Fangen and Tara Sarin (University of Oslo).


Conclusions (Tikka and Sassi, 2011)

• Importance of understanding and promoting social and cultural participation and practices also as essential prerequisite to actual political participation (if that is the aim)

• Cosmopolitan nature of internet usage questions the necessity of local and national level participation.

• E-governance and e-participation not to be treated as national level phenomena.


Thank you

• Contact: IIeP- project

– University of Helsinki

– Ilona Tikka: [email protected]

– Sinikka Sassi: [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

The role of democracy in immigrant inclusion by eParticipation

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