Equality of Participation Online Versus Face to Face: Condensed Analysis of the Community Forum Deliberative Methods Demonstration

Online deliberation may provide a more cost-effective and/or less inhibiting environment for public participation than face to face (F2F). But do online methods bias participation toward certain individuals or groups? We compare F2F versus online participation in an experiment affording within-participants and cross-modal comparisons. For English speakers required to have Internet access as a condition of participation, we find no negative effects of online modes on equality of participation (EoP) related to gender, age, or educational level. Asynchronous online discussion appears to improve EoP for gender relative to F2F. Data suggest a dampening effect of online environments on black participants, as well as amplification for whites. Synchronous online voice communication EoP is on par with F2F across individuals. But individual-level EoP is much lower in the online forum, and greater online forum participation predicts greater F2F participation for individuals. Measured rates of participation are compared to self-reported experiences, and other findings are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 10 tables, to appear in Efthimios Tambouris, Panos Panagiotopoulos, {\O}ystein S{\ae}b{\o}, Konstantinos Tarabanis, Michela Milano, Theresa Pardo, and Maria Wimmer (Editors), Electronic Participation: Proceedings of the 7th IFIP WG 8.5 International Conference, ePart 2015 (Thessaloniki, August 30-September 2), Springer LNCS Vol. 9249, 201

Concertation et reconnaissance du « local » à l’aune des inégalités environnementales : la création du Parc national des Calanques

National audienceThis paper questions the environmental public policy changes and more specifically the recognition process of the local users in creating protected areas. Indeed, the dialogue priority establishes the users commitments on behalf of natural, cultural and landscaped heritages. It learns also from conflicts which characterize the first generation national parks genesis (Law of 1960). The recognition of the rights and the indigenous knowledge and their role in the natural environment conservation respond to concerns in terms of environmental efficiency and social justice. Nevertheless it also produces opposite effects, which were observed during the dialogue implemented to create the National park of Creeks, the first one metropolitan since the new law on the parks of 2006. At the close of this dialogue, the proposed charter was invalidated by the National Council for Nature Conservation. We showed besides that this project tended to legitimize forms of environmental inequalities (Deldrève, Deboudt, coord. 2011). In order to clarify these effects, we analyze here the dialogue observed in situ, in its dependent relationships with both the autonomous public sphere, structured for 20 years by the Creeks conservation process, and divided local power.Ce papier interroge l’évolution de l’action publique environnementale et plus spécifiquement le processus de reconnaissance des usagers locaux dans la création d’aires protégées. En effet, l’impératif de concertation consacre l’engagement de ces usagers au profit des patrimoines naturel, culturel et paysager et tire leçon des conflits qui marquent l’existence des parcs nationaux de première génération (Loi de 1960). La reconnaissance des droits et savoirs autochtones, de leur rôle dans la protection du milieu naturel répond à des préoccupations en termes d’efficacité environnementale et de justice sociale. Pourtant elle produit également des effets contraires, qui se sont illustrés lors de la concertation mise en ½uvre pour créer le Parc national des Calanques, premier en Métropole depuis la nouvelle loi sur les parcs de 2006. A l’issue de cette concertation, la proposition de charte a été invalidée par le Conseil national de protection de la nature. Nous avons montré par ailleurs qu’elle tendait à légitimer des formes d’inégalités environnementales. Afin d’expliciter ces effets, nous analysons ici la concertation observée in situ dans ses relations de dépendance à l’espace public autonome, structuré depuis 20 ans autour de la protection des Calanques, et à un pouvoir local divisé

The Public Sphere as Site of Emancipation and Enlightenment: A Discourse Theoretic Critique of Digital Communication

Habermas claims that an inclusive public sphere is the only deliberative forum for generating public opinion that satisfies the epistemic and normative conditions underlying legitimate decision-making. He adds that digital technologies and other mass media need not undermine – but can extend – rational deliberation when properly instituted. This paper draws from social epistemology and technology studies to demonstrate the epistemic and normative limitations of this extension. We argue that current online communication structures fall short of satisfying the required epistemic and normative conditions. Furthermore, the extent to which Internet-based communications contribute to legitimate democratic opinion and will formation depends on the design of the technologies in question