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
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)
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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.)
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
Ladder of participation Arnstein, 1969
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
International Association for Public Participation
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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.
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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)
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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.
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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.)
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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).
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
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.
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011
Thank you
• Contact: IIeP- project
– University of Helsinki
– Ilona Tikka: [email protected]
– Sinikka Sassi: [email protected]
Ilona Tikka and Sinikka Sassi_Immigrant Inclusion and eParticipation 2011