Democratising Democracy: Votes-Weighted Representation: Votes-Weighted Representation (VWR)

Democracy is in retreat around the world. To reduce the UK’s own democratic deficit, support is growing for some kind of proportional representation. We propose that existing versions of PR can be greatly simplified and improved on by giving each representative voting power in the assembly proportional to the number of votes they have been given by the electorate: “Votes-Weighted Representation”. Under VWR a country/region is divided into multi-member constituencies. Each voter has a single vote. Ballot papers list the candidates (each party can field several), whom voters then rank. The candidate with the fewest votes (top preferences) is eliminated, and their votes are transferred to next preferences, repeating until the number of candidates remaining equals the number to elect. Optionally, given sufficiently secure and accessible voting software, every voter can also have a 'dynamic' second vote, which they can arbitrarily split and delegate to any representatives from any constituencies, for however long and on whichever issues they wish; delegated votes are added to representatives’ vote weights. Any voter can override the delegation of their second vote on any issue, and remotely vote on it in the assembly themselves, directly. Compared with existing systems, these proposals will allow more accountable, more responsive and finer-grained coverage of the inherently multi-dimensional political space, including between elections. Fewer votes will be wasted, and better proportionality of voting power in the assembly should be achievable than under comparable Single Transferable Vote (STV) and highest averages or highest remainders methods for apportioning representatives. Also, fewer votes will be wasted compared with using electoral thresholds without vote transfers from eliminated candidates. Political fragmentation should be largely avoidable by using 6- or 7-member constituencies, without unduly compromising proportionality for bigger parties, or the diversity of elected representatives. Our proposals should help democratise democracy, improve its functioning, and reverse its global retreat

A Critical Success Factors for Data-Driven Decision-Making at Local Government: The Case of Indonesia

A question remains regarding the effective application of data as a basis for decision-making in public sectors. In relation, the objectives of this study are twofold. First, this study identifies factors affecting the local government official's propensity to use data for decision-making. Second, this study outlines the components of the effective application of data-driven decision-making in local government. Extensive in-depth semi-structured interviews with executives at the agencies and offices of the Regency of Bojonegoro, Indonesia, were conducted to gather the data. Our findings demonstrate two predominant institutional factors instigating the officials' inclination to use data in their decision-making: a) the accountability pressures and b) the hierarchical, bureaucratic structure. Our findings further signify the existence of three interrelated building blocks necessary for the practical application of data-driven decision-making: a) transforming quality data into knowledge, b) capable and motivated people, and c) appropriate tools/apps. Furthermore, culture and norms, institutional contexts, rules, and regulations shaped the functioning of the three components mentioned above

Implementing e-procurement at the Zimbabwe’s National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm): Challenges and Prospects

This study explores the challenges and benefits of adopting electronic procurement (e-procurement) technologies to facilitate anti-corruption mechanisms, accountability and transparency in the procurement of pharmaceuticals at the National Pharmaceutical (NatPharm) Company in Zimbabwe. Pharmaceutical corruption is a serious threat to the attainment of Universal Health Coverage. It is imperative for the Government of Zimbabwe to adopt Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to detect and prevent corruption and fraud, thereby, addressing leakages, mismanagement and theft of medicines, thereby, improving population health outcomes. The study used a qualitative exploratory case study approach and data was gathered through documentary review. The study findings reveal that, pharmaceutical procurement is highly vulnerable to corruption at NatPharm. Bid rigging, procurement-related corruption, bribery and nepotism characterise pharmaceutical procurement at NatPharm. The study recommends the adoption of a transparent e-procurement system with open contracting and integrity pacts to reduce corruption, increase transparency and accountability at NatPharm.

Casual Social Media Use among the Youth: Effects on Online and Offline Political Participation

Previous studies suggest that social media use among the youth is correlated with online and offline political participation. There is also a mixed and inconclusive debate on whether online political participation in the youth increases offline political participation. This study uses three models of OLS, two-way fixed effects, and an instrumental variable approach to make causal inferences about the social media use and online and offline political participation of the youth. The analyses provide evidence of a significant effect of casual social media use on online political participation and no effect or negligible effect on offline political activity and voting behavior. The results from fixed effects and instrumental variable models provide strong evidence of elasticity between online political participation and offline political activity in young individuals. On average, a one percent increase in online political participation increases the offline political activity index by 0.12 percent

Risks and Challenges to e-Justice Principles: Governing Remote Work, Online Hearings and the Use of Social Media in Chilean Courts

The digitalization of justice is emerging worldwide partially due to the most common narrative surrounding digital government being; more efficient, cost-effective, and democratic.  In an in-depth case study of the Chilean courts’ implementation of technologies during COVID-19, we questioned the dominant narrative of e-justice as “better justice” by borrowing from digital government literature and highlighting implications to e-justice principles. Derived from thirty-one (31) interviews with key stakeholders from the Chilean judiciary system, we provided evidence on how the e-justice principles are challenged by the implementation of digital technologies by court systems in Chile. The paper showed risks to justice work and due process in two main ways: bypassing traditional media scrutiny and limited governance of ready-to-use technologies in remote work, online hearings and the use of social media in judicial communications.This paper advances our understanding of the relationship between justice, digital technology, and government

A Glimpse into Botswana’s AI Readiness Landscape

   This study seeks to provide insights into Botswana’s AI readiness landscape. It was achieved by analysing secondary data from the Oxford Insights 2022- Government AI Readiness Index (AIRI). According to the AIRI, Botswana is in position 98, out of 181 countries surveyed. The major drawbacks to successful AI adoption were; a lack of AI strategy, limited capacity to support change, an immature technology sector incapable of supporting innovation, inadequate skills to support AI development, insufficient technological infrastructure to support AI, insufficient data to train AI models, and there are few use cases identified in the public sector. Despite these hurdles, the country is putting in efforts to transform digitally, and there are opportunities for improvement. The country is faring similarly, or even better than, regional peers but is lagging behind global peers in the upper middle-income group. Consequently, it is recommended that the government should start by developing an AI strategy to set the vision for AI adoption

Defining Transparency: A Functional Approach: Eine Funktionsherangehensweise

Transparency is a fuzzy concept within the governance literature; it is commonly linked, through blurry categorisations, to other concepts in the political science and public administration scholarship, such as accountability and corruption. This reflection piece seeks to tackle this blurriness and advance the concept’s analytical precision by presenting and discussing transparency’s main dimensions, as well as its framing within the scholarly body of good governance, democracy, and development. To do so, the reflection paper presents a novel approach; to define transparency in the form of a function (which places transparency in relation to, and as a function) of its two constituting dimensions: a) information (timely and qualitative), and b) accountability mechanisms (namely, a free media environment and legitimate accountability channels). Reviewing a sample of relevant and influential works in the broad field of transparency, these two dimensions are analysed highlighting the common analytical factors found in the scholarship, pointing towards potential applications of the novel functional approach framework. The focus is placed on the distinct institutional and contextual levels, addressing the various analytical determinants of transparency. In doing so, the reflection presents and discusses some prospective research hypotheses, marking the road for future theoretical and empirical research, as well as policy implications

Citizens’ Intention to Use the Palestinian e-Government Services Portal – An Extension of UMEGA

         With the wide spread of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), governments are increasingly employing them to better satisfy the demands of their citizens, and to advance their vision of sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of Palestinian citizens’ attitudes and behavioural intentions to use the recently launched e-government services portal.  Using a revised version of the Unified Model of Electronic Government Adoption (UMEGA) that incorporates a multidimensional construct of perceived risk construct, this study addresses a gap in the e-government literature where most previous studies have used perceived risk as a unidimensional construct. The study is a quantitative study that utilizes a combination of purposive and quota sampling to draw the sample, 415 valid responses were collected from the study population, and then analysed using PLS-SEM. The findings revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and opportunity cost risk significantly influenced citizens' attitudes, which in turn, positively influenced their behavioural intentions

Open Government Data Programs and Information Privacy Concerns: A Literature Review

This study presents a narrative review of the literature on privacy concerns of Open Government Data (OGD) programs and identifies suggested technical, procedural, and legal remedies. Peer-reviewed articles were identified and analysed from major bibliographic databases, including Web of Science, Digital ACM Library, IEEE Explore Digital Library, and Science Direct. Included articles focus on identifying individual information privacy concerns from the viewpoint of OGD stakeholders or providing solutions for mitigating concerns and risks. Papers that discussed and focused on general privacy issues or privacy concerns of open data in general or open science privacy concerns were excluded. Three streams of research were identified: 1) exploring privacy concerns and balance with OGD value propositions, 2) proposing solutions for mitigating privacy concerns, and 3) developing risk-based frameworks for the OGD program at different governmental levels. Findings suggest that contradictions with Fair Information Practices, reidentification risks, conflicts with OGD value propositions, and smart city data practices are significant privacy concerns in the literature. Proposed solutions include technical, legal, and procedural measures to mitigate privacy concerns. Building on the findings, practical implications and suggested future research directions are provided