ASSESSING THE ROLE OF E-PARTICIPATION IN CHANGING THE TRENDS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENT ACROSS THE WORLD
Abstract
E-participation has aided in encouraging greater citizen involvement in social movements. The context and objectives, which establish the study’s focus areas, are highlighted in this chapter. The purpose and importance of the study also highlight the difficult areas of the research, highlighting its significance. The available scholarly sources on the subject are included in the literature review to provide context for the study’s goals. It also highlights the choice of the data collecting and analysis process by choosing the proper philosophy, design, and approach. The ease with which the secondary qualitative method may obtain a vast amount of data about e-participation led to its selection.
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1. Introduction
E-participation is the process of using various “Information and Communication Technology or ICT” to enhance participation among citizens in public “service delivery” and decision-making. It is a branch of the e-government, which focuses on the higher engagement of people for decision orientation and deliberation. E-participation has assisted in influencing higher participation among citizens to involve in social movements. This chapter highlights the background and objectives, which determines the areas of the study. Additionally, the rationale and significance of the study highlight the challenging areas of the research informing its importance as well.
1.2. Research background
“Electronic participation or e-participation” highlights the use of advanced ICTs to engage citizens in the decision-making process of the government. “Citizen participation” in the government is the core element of public administration as lack of involvement results in significant challenges for the local and state government (Hassan and Hamari, 2020). On the other hand, social movement refers to an effort organised by a group of individuals to obtain a political or social goal.
Figure 1: Concept of E-participation
(Source: Hassan and Hamari, 2020)
The advancement of technology has influenced digitisation, which has resulted in the creation of “e-participation”, which allows people to have comprehensive access to governmental policies and information (Santamaría-Philco et al. 2019). The citizens can easily access the information available regarding governmental and public sectors, which have facilitated social movements as the people have a comprehensive insight into the regulation and have the scope to express their opinion regarding the requirement of change. The continuous growth of e-participation has inspired digital social movements, which have increased the use of social platforms to highlight various issues.
1.3. Research aim
The aim of the study is to analyse the role of e-participation in changing the trends of social movements.
1.4. Research Objectives and Questions
Objectives
- To determine the role of e-participation in inducing individual participation in social movement
- To analyse the impact of e-participation on the changing trends of social movements
- To identify the challenges of e-participation in case of participating in social movements
- To deliver probable recommendations to lessen the informed challenges related to e-participation
Questions
- What is the role of e-participation in enhancing the involvement of people in social movements?
- How does e-participation affect the changing trends of social movements?
- What are the challenges of e-participation related to social movements?
- How the emerging challenges of e-participation can be mitigated?
1.5. Rationale
The e-participation has a significant role in influencing transparency and knowledge among citizens regarding various policies. Before the rapid growth of the internet, citizens gathered knowledge about government regulations and policies from mass media. It has highlighted a significant challenge as it restricted overall knowledge about various processes, which resulted in a lack of transparency (Armenia and Irina, 2022). The social movements, which have been forming of physical gatherings have been unable to attract larger attention due to their limited reach to the people. The lack of proper knowledge and reach resulted in a tendency to avoid engagement with the government.
However, the growth of the Internet has facilitated e-participation in various countries, which has enabled citizens to easily reach other people (Royo et al. 2020). It has been able to attract the governmental authorities regarding the requirement of reformation of various policies. However, the reach of e-participation has been restricted by the “Digital divide”, which resulted in limited access to the internet in rural and remote areas.
1.6. Significance of the research
The research is effective in highlighting the change in the social movement, which has been digitalised through the utilisation of social media and digital platforms. It can help in understanding the effectiveness of e-participation in engaging people to enhance the positive management of various processes (Aichholzer and Rose, 2020). It can assist in the comprehension of the vital role of e-participation in influencing social movement among people due to the increased knowledge about governmental and public sectors.
1.7. Summary
The study has shed light on the overview of the research areas by depicting the research question and objectives. The aim of the research highlights the fundamental purpose of the study to evaluate the effectiveness of e-participation in changing the trends of social movements. The e-participation has influenced the use of social platforms to garner a wide range of followers to attract the attention of the government to take active initiative in certain processes, which are ineffective in addressing transparency and fairness.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1. Introduction
The literature review presents the existing academic sources related to the topic to create a background for the research objectives. The chapter includes an assessment of various concepts related to the research questions regarding e-participation in changing trends of “social movements”. It also includes theory application and literature gap to inform concepts and a gap in the research process.
2.2. Concepts
2.2.1. Role of e-participation in Influencing the Involvement of People in social movement
The E-participation aims to increase the efficiency and transparency of government processes, which is achieved by integrating digitalisation into the service process. According to Steinbach et al. (2019), e-participation has facilitated the utilisation of digital technology to publish governmental data. It has increased awareness among individuals and aims to enhance accountability for governmental action. Therefore, it has provided the citizens with adequate information regarding various processes and policies of the government. Tai et al. (2020) stated that the rising awareness among the people regarding the policies has assisted them in determining the required changes in the process. Hence, citizens are taking an increased interest in the governmental process to evaluate their appropriateness and reach out to the authorities to implement change. E-participation has also facilitated greater access to people to address social issues and provided citizens with a platform to communicate with the government.
Figure 2: Role of e-participation in social movement
(Source: Steinbach et al. 2019)
2.2.2. Effectiveness of E-participation in Changing the Trends of social movement among Citizens
E-participation has facilitated the use of advanced technology in government and public sectors, which has enhanced accountability. As per the understanding of Naranjo-Zolotov et al. (2019), e-participation has influenced a significant change in a social movement. The citizens have better access to authentic data and comprehensive insight into the governmental process. Therefore, social movements are increasingly highlighting the limitedness of the existing process urging the government to enhance the effectiveness of the policies. Due to e-participation, more people have access to governmental information, which was not available previously. Shahab et al. (2021) stated that e-participation has facilitated high knowledge among people and enhanced the use of social media to gather people’s opinions. Social movements have been able to get higher attention among the people and have increased knowledge among the citizens regarding the established policies. Social movements have become more effective and popular among individuals due to the introduction of e-participation.
Figure 3: Impact of e-participation in changing trends
(Source: Simonofski et al. 2021)
2.2.3. Challenges of e-participation Restricting the Involvement of Citizens in social movement
E-participation faces significant challenges due to the issues of digital participation, which is not equal in various regions. Wilson (2020) opined that regional differences have created a “Digital Divide” among people due to limited access to the internet. The lack of proper infrastructure in remote and rural areas has restricted having comprehensive knowledge regarding the implemented policies. Hence, social movements have registered a low presence of individuals who do not have adequate access to the Internet. It has also created a significant difference between people with a lack of technical knowledge to use digital devices.
Figure 4: Emerging challenges of e-participation
(Source: Abdulkareem et al. 2022)
2.2.4. Recommendations to mitigate the problems of e-participation
The digital divide refers to the limited infrastructure available in particular areas which results in a lack of participation among people. Abdulkareem et al. (2022) state digital divide results in limitations among people who are unable to gain knowledge and deliver their opinions on various policies. Improving the infrastructure of rural areas is one of the major steps to address the challenges of the “Digital divide”. It can help in providing inclusive services to all people in the country. Additionally, providing people with materials to access the internet and improve digital skills can help in minimizing the lack of desire for e-participation.
Figure 5: Mitigation strategy for e-participation
(Source: Misnikov et al. 2021)
2.3. Conceptual framework
Figure 6: Conceptual framework
(Source: Self-created)
2.4. Application of Theory
Technology Acceptance model
The e-participation has influenced a significant change in the trends of a social movement; however, it has faced significant issues due to a lack of knowledge about digital technology people. The application of the “Technology Acceptance Model or TAM” can help in influencing digital literacy among people. The theory has two main elements; “Perceived Usefulness” and “Perceived Ease of Use” (Alathur et al. 2022). The “Perceived Usefulness” depicts the importance of highlighting the essentiality of new technology. The “Perceived Ease of Use” informs the necessity of explaining the easy process of utilising the digital process. The utilisation of the framework can help in improving the perspective among people regarding e-participation.
Figure 7: Technology Acceptance Model
(Source: Alathur et al. 2022)
2.5. Literature gap
The chapter has analysed various literature sources to provide a comprehensive idea of the research topic. However, it has a significant gap as it does not include the assessment of the appropriateness of social movement on the digital platforms which has facilitated among people due to e-participation. The inclusion of analysis on the usefulness of social platforms in enhancing social movements could have provided a comprehensive view of the changing trends.
2.6. Summary
The chapter has highlighted various academic sources to obtain information regarding the research objectives. It has highlighted the role and the impact of e-participation in social movements along with its challenges. Recommendations such as improving infrastructure and increasing digital literacy have been provided along with the “Technology Acceptance Theory”.
Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1. Introduction
Research methodology provides a comprehensive view of the research process by informing a “step-by-step” approach. It includes the selection of appropriate philosophy, design and approach which further highlights the choice of data collection and analysis process. This chapter will highlight the process of research along with ethical considerations and the timeline of the study.
Figure 8: Research onion
(Source: Lê and Schmid, 2022)
3.2. Research philosophy
Research philosophy provides a comprehensive framework for a study which determines the strategies and tools used in the research. It helps in integrating appropriate practices to decrease the scope of challenges during the research. Research philosophy is divided into three main groups; “Realism”, “Interpretivism”, and “Positivism” (Lê and Schmid, 2022). The research will employ interpretivism to analyse and describe the collected information regarding e-participation and its role in social movements. Interpretivism highlights reality as subjective as individual experiences differ based on their perspectives. Hence, it can help in elaborating collected data from different perspectives which will help in obtaining positive research outcomes.
3.3. Research design
Research design provides an outline of the research and determines the collection process of data regarding a phenomenon. The research design can be segmented into several groups; “Explanatory”, “Correlational”, “Descriptive”, “Experimental” and “Diagnostic” (Busetto et al. 2020). This research will use descriptive design to elaborate the collected data on e-participation and its efficacy in changing trends in social movements. The descriptive design will help in examining the collected information to highlight existing patterns in the gathered data sets.
3.4. Research Approach
The research approach depicts the techniques of gathering information and assessing the data to answer the research questions. There are mainly two types of research approaches; “Inductive” and “Deductive”. In this research, an inductive approach will be incorporated to gather relevant data and to identify the patterns to form new theories to meet the research objectives (Köhler et al. 2022). The inductive approach is suitable for collecting huge amounts of data and integrating the descriptive design in the analysis process of the research on e-participation.
3.5. Data collection
“Data collection” is the technique of collecting adequate information about a particular phenomenon. The data collection process has two basic types; “primary” and “secondary”. In this research, secondary data collection will be used to collect information regarding the role of e-participation in inducing transformation in social movements in the world (Biggs et al. 2021). Additionally, the collection process is further segmented based on data type; “qualitative” and “quantitative”. The research will apply the qualitative approach to collect descriptive information from existing sources such as journals, books and research papers. Therefore, secondary qualitative data collection will be incorporated into this research.
3.6. Data analysis
Data analysis is the procedure of examining the collected information regarding a specific event. There are two types of data analysis; “primary” and “secondary”. This study will utilise the secondary analysis process through the use of thematic analysis (Skarbek, 2020). It will help in analysing and presenting the gathered data thoroughly.
3.7. Ethical considerations
Ethical considerations are usually the guideline of research which helps the researchers in obtaining higher transparency and credibility in research. The research will include authentic information which is collected from credible sources such as “Google Scholar”. It will help in integrating precise and accurate information into the study which will increase its credibility. Plagiarism will be avoided to deliver an authentic study on the e-participation. The use of various resources will be used to only creates a fundamental base for the study (da Silva Frost and Ledgerwood, 2020). Additionally, data protection is highly required in research as it helps in maintaining anonymity and adhering to the “data protection law”. The collected data will be stored in a password-protected folder to restrict the use of the information. Maintaining ethical considerations will assist in providing an authentic research paper about e-participation and its role in influencing changes in social movements.
3.8. Research timeline
Figure 9: Timeline
(Source: Self-created)
3.9. Risk matrix
Table 1: Risk matrix
(Source: Self-created)
3.10. Summary
The methodology chapter has summarised the probable techniques which will be used in the research process. The secondary qualitative process has been chosen due to its simplicity and scope of gathering a massive amount of information regarding e-participation. It also includes a Gantt chart to highlight the timeline and a risk matrix to analyse the potentiality of various obstacles and preventative measures to reduce the scope of challenges in the research process.
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