Do voting advice applications have an effect on electoral participation and voter turnout ? : Evidence from the 2007 Swiss Federal Elections

Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) render a valuable platform for tackling one of democracy's central challenges: low voter turnout. Studies indicate that lack of information and cost-benefit considerations cause voters to abstain from voting. VAAs are online voting assistance tools which match own political preferences with those of candidates and parties in elections. By assisting voters in their decision-making process prior to casting their votes, VAAs not only rebut rational choice reasoning against voting but also narrow existing information gaps. In this paper we examine the impact of VAAs on participation and voter turnout. Specifically, we present results on how the Swiss VAA smartvote affected voter turnout in the 2007 federal elections. Our analyses suggest that smartvote does have a mobilizing capacity, especially among young voters who are usually underrepresented at polls. Moreover, the study demonstrates how VAAs such as smartvote do affect citizen's propensity to deal with politics in general.

‘Probing with the prototype’: using a prototype e-participation platform as a digital cultural probe to investigate youth engagement with the environment

This study describes how we used a prototype e-participation plat-form as a digital cultural probe to investigate youth motivation and engagement strategies. This is a novel way of considering digital cultural probes which can contribute to the better creation of e-participation platforms. This probe has been conducted as part of the research project STEP which aims at creating an e-participation platform to engage young European Citizens in environmental decision making. Our probe technique has given an insight into the environ-mental issues concerning young people across Europe as well as possible strat-egies for encouraging participation. How the e-participation platform can be utilised to support youth engagement through opportunities for social interac-tion and leadership is discussed. This study leads to a better understanding of how young people can co-operate with each other to provide collective intelli-gence and how this knowledge could contribute to effective e-participation of young people.

The Impact of Digitization on the Management of Administrative Procedures : The Case of Building Permits

Information and Communication Technologies provide public administrations new ways to meet their users' needs. At the same time, e-Government practices support the public sector in improving the quality of service provision and of its internal operations. In this paper we discuss the impacts of digitization on the management of administrative procedures. The theoretical framework and the research model that we will use in this study help us tackle the question of how digitization transforms administrative procedures as, for example, in terms of time and roles. The multiplicity of institutions involved in issuing building permits led us to consider this administrative procedure as a very interesting case study. An online survey was first addressed to Swiss civil servants to explore the field, and here we present some of its results. We are currently undertaking an in-depth case study of the building permit procedures in three Swiss Cantons, which we will also present in this paper. We will conclude with a discussion and the future steps of this project.

Internet e movimentos populares: um modelo de dados em painel

Nos últimos anos, o mundo vem assistindo a um maior número de mobilizações sociais, que ocorrem em todo o espectro de regimes de governo e níveis de desenvolvimento econômico: de países tradicionalmente democráticos e desenvolvidos, a países em desenvolvimento sob regimes autoritários. Tais mobilizações vêm ocorrendo simultaneamente a uma expansão acelerada das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC), mais notadamente o avanço da Internet e dos telefones celulares (ITU, 2014; CETIC, 2013), tornando mais rápido e fácil o acesso e difusão de informações sem o intermédio dos meios de comunicação de massa tradicionais; há os que defendem que o contexto de cada nação é o grande responsável por tais manifestações, enquanto outros citam a importância tanto das TIC quanto dos fatores contextuais como influenciadores. O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar as variáveis explicativas da ocorrência de protestos, considerando aspectos tecnológicos, sociais e políticos, por meio da construção de modelos utilizando dados em painel. Para tal são utilizados dados do Banco Mundial, Fórum Econômico Mundial e ITU, desenvolvendo uma amostra de 124 países. O resultado desta análise revela que o percentual de usuários de Internet influencia positivamente a ocorrência de protestos e que países desenvolvidos possuem maior a chance de apresentarem manifestações.

Internet e movimentos populares: um modelo global de dados em painel

Nos últimos anos, o mundo vem assistindo a um maior número de mobilizações sociais, que ocorrem em todo o espectro de regimes de governo e níveis de desenvolvimento econômico: de países tradicionalmente democráticos e desenvolvidos, a países em desenvolvimento sob regimes autoritários. Tais mobilizações vêm ocorrendo simultaneamente a uma expansão acelerada das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC), mais notadamente o avanço da Internet e dos telefones celulares (ITU, 2014; CETIC, 2013), tornando mais rápido e fácil o acesso e difusão de informações sem o intermédio dos meios de comunicação de massa tradicionais; há os que defendem que o contexto de cada nação é o grande responsável por tais manifestações, enquanto outros citam a importância tanto das TIC quanto dos fatores contextuais como influenciadores. O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar as variáveis explicativas da ocorrência de protestos, considerando aspectos tecnológicos, sociais e políticos, por meio da construção de modelos utilizando dados em painel. Para tal são utilizados dados do Banco Mundial, Fórum Econômico Mundial e ITU, desenvolvendo uma amostra de 124 países. O resultado desta análise revela que o percentual de usuários de Internet influencia positivamente a ocorrência de protestos e que países desenvolvidos possuem maior a chance de apresentarem manifestações.

Comparing ESL electronic and face-to-face pre-writing conferences and first drafts : discourse, participation, and idea transfer /

This study was a comparative investigation of face-toface (i.e., proximate) and computer-mediated written (i.e., graphic) pre-writing conferences. The participants in this study were advanced English as a second language students. The 2 types of conferences were compared in terms of textual features, participation, and the . degree to which they were on topic. Moreover, drafts written after the 2 types of conferences were compared in terms of textual features, and the degree to which they were related to the conferences. Students produced an equivalent amount of discourse in an equivalent amount of time in the 2 types of conferences. The discourse in graphic conferences displayed greater lexical range, and some evidence suggests that it was less on-topic. Both these results likely occurred because the graphic conferences contained more discourse demonstrating interactive competence. Participation in graphic conferences was found to be as balanced or more balanced among students, and among students and the group leader combined. Overall, the drafts produced after the 2 types of conferences were of equivalent length and topical range, but some evidence suggests that drafts written after proximate conferences were more related to the conferences.

Evidence of the participation of electronic excited states in the mechanism of positronium formation in substitutional Tb1-xEux(dpm)(3) solid solutions studied by optical and positron annihilation spectroscopies

Positronium formation in the bimary molecular solid solutions Tb1-xEux (dpm)(3) (dpm = dipivaloylmethanate) has been investigated. A strong linear correlation between the D-5(4) Tb(III) energy level excited state lifetime and the positronium formation probability has been observed. This correlation indicates that the ligand-to-metal charge transfer LMCT states act in both luminescence quenching and positronium formation inhibition, as previously proposed. A kinetic mechanism is proposed to explain this correlation and shows that excited electronic states have a very important role in the positronium formation mechanism.

ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT POLICIES IN BRAZIL: CONTEXT, ICT MANAGEMENT AND OUTCOMES

The State Reform processes combined with the emergence and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) originated electronic government policies and initiatives in Brazil. This paper dwells on Brazilian e-government by investigating the institutional design it assumed in the state's public sphere, and how it contributed to outcomes related to e-gov possibilities. The analyses were carried out under an interpretativist perspective by making use of Institutional Theory. From the analyses of interviews with relevant actors in the public sphere, such as state secretaries and presidents of public ICT companies, conclusions point towards low institutionalization of e-gov policies. The institutional design of Brazilian e-gov limits the use of ICT to provide integrated public services, to amplify participation and transparency, and to improve public policies management.

Electronic government policies in Brazil: context, ICT management and outcomes

The State Reform processes combined with the emergence and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) originated electronic government policies and initiatives in Brazil. This paper dwells on Brazilian e-government by investigating the institutional design it assumed in the state's public sphere, and how it contributed to outcomes related to e-gov possibilities. The analyses were carried out under an interpretativist perspective by making use of Institutional Theory. From the analyses of interviews with relevant actors in the public sphere, such as state secretaries and presidents of public ICT companies, conclusions point towards low institutionalization of e-gov policies. The institutional design of Brazilian e-gov limits the use of ICT to provide integrated public services, to amplify participation and transparency, and to improve public policies management.