Designing online deliberation using web 2.0 technologies: Drafting a bill of law on internet regulation in Brazil

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the formatting guidelines for the role of institutions and political practitioners in designing online consultation projects. As a case study we evaluate the Brazilian government-run initiative known as Marco Civil Regulatório that used web 2.0 tools to draft a bill of law on Internet legislation with the aid of citizen's participation. Findings presented in this article are based on a set of interviews held with policy makers responsible for designing and promoting the aforementioned project. This article contributes to the debates on how deliberative rules and technology overlap in early stages of policy design. Our case study supports the argument that Internet has potential to provide a democratic space, but public consultations need to be established, funded, promoted and regulated; tasks that are performed by institutions (not by technology or citizens alone). For that reason, institutions are key to understand how web 2.0 technologies can be useful for citizens and governments in designing tools for consultation, deliberation and decision-making. Copyright 2012 ACM.