Information Technology and Participatory Democracy:
A case study of India's Silicon Valley

Lecturer: Dr. Veena Raman
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
12:00 - 2:00pm
Harris Conference Room, 119 Moses Hall

Local governments are adopting information technologies to increase their efficiency. Citizens groups are seeking action spaces to solve local problems triggered by global trends and often see information and communication technologies (ICT) as part of the solution. This raises interesting questions about the role of ICTs in urban civic life in developing countries. How are ICTs used in citizen-government interactions? How does local political context influence technology use among citizens? What factors facilitate or inhibit use of ICTs in local government? Do ICTs facilitate greater citizen involvement in local government? Do they strengthen governance and deepen democracy?

In this research I examine the impact of ICTs on the civic lives of people in Bangalore City, the information capital of India. I analyze the e-government efforts of the local government in Bangalore, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP), and study the efforts of Janaagraha, a citizen¹s group, to facilitate participatory democracy among Bangaloreans. Through city-wide surveys and interviews, the strategies used by citizens of Bangalore to participate more in local government are examined. This research highlights a situation where though the state government has discouraged decentralization and sharing of power in practice, citizens groups have been able to take advantage of a simple computerization process within local government to gain more space for participation in governance.