Electronic Public Participation in Russia: Technology or Institute, Solo or Duo?
Public participation is an integral attribute of modern public governance, designed to optimize search for an effective solution and increase a likelihood of its implementation. Today, in the practice of public participation and co-production within the framework of public administration in Russia, electronic platforms are coming in active use. We set out to explore e-participation platforms in Russia trying to answer two research questions. The first question is whether e-participation platforms in Russia represent an autonomous institution involving citizens in decision-making process or such platforms serve as front-end technology which duplicates already existing processes in the public administration. The second question is aimed at whether the agenda discussed on the three e-platforms we researched reflects most pressing socio-economic problems of citizens, and to what extent the citizens can influence it. Three e-participation platforms from three different areas have been explored to answer our research questions (Moscow, the Republic of Bashkortostan, Voronezh). The paper shows that the e-participation platforms explored represent front-end technology for citizens’ right to appeal to state authorities using WWW and receive a response, but outcomes of such voting could not be used as the rationale for official decision making according to the Russian legislation. At the same time, topics discussed on the platforms do not reflect most pressing socio-economic issues of the citizens and the discussion has no influence on the agenda and alternatives for voting. The power of citizens is limited to vote/not vote on the agenda submitted by the state authorities. The paper concludes that the situation reflects an early stage of adopting e-tools in public participation in Russia focusing on learning and education.