Doctoral Dissertation
Designing for Democracy
End-user Participation in the Construction
of Political ICTs
Mikael Norén Medie- och
kommunikations-vetenskap
Örebro Studies in Media and Communication 7 örebro 2008 issn 1651-4785 isbn 978-91-7668-586-0
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At a time when traditional forms of political participation are in decline, Infor-mation and Communication Technology (ICT), particularly the Internet, has been proposed as a remedy. This technology, it is argued, offers opportunities to enhance existing channels for public input into the political system as well as create new ones. Compared to the initial optimism in academic, political and not least popu-lar rhetoric, the lack of clear results in terms of revitalised democratic practices is disappointing. Instead of being carried away by the cyclic nature of technolo-gical optimism and pessimism, this thesis argues for an alternative approach. It recognises that technological artefacts are tied to certain values and outlooks on the world. But if we wish to use them to actively promote certain forms of life, they must be constructed to be structurally compatible with those forms of life. Hence, the Internet is not in itself a democratic force waiting to be revealed through spontaneous use. Instead, a democratic Internet is a design endeavour involving those who are affected by, and are expected to use applications of technology, in their everyday lives. The conventional approach to developing ICTs is top-down, with offi cials inventing systems and services that ‘the public needs’. Founded on a participatory democratic ideal, this work proposes a more open-ended process, where citizens and other categories of users have a more pronounced impact on the making of technological choices. It explores the institutional conditions of user involvement and arrives at a set of design recommendations.
ÖREBRO STUDIES IN MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION 2008
