'E-democracy' aims to beat apathy

The Downing Street website hosts a variety of "people's petitions"

New media is being used by the Welsh assembly in a new attempt at "e-democracy" to bring politics closer to the people.

It includes electronic petitions, and an improved web TV service, senedd.tv.

The initiative is an attempt to close a gap between politicians and the public seen by some as undermining democracy.

But one media consultant suggested that road shows on the streets and shopping centres might be more likely to engage people in politics.

Senedd.tv is promising broadband users the ability to watch different types of assembly debates in much better quality than was previously available.

Its arrival was described as a "soft launch" by an assembly spokeswoman.

Services such as e-petitioning have the ability to reach many more people than a traditional paper petition Assembly Commissioner Peter Black AM

Initially viewers are being asked to contact the assembly through its website to get a password in order to access the service.

The new e-petitions system, on similar lines to the Downing Street one, is aimed at making it easier for people throughout Wales to voice their opinions on what really matters to them.

Online voting for a "Welsh Idol", to find Wales' favourite person, has also been launched to increase interest in the initiative.

The Downing Street website has seen millions of people signing petitions to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on everything from road pricing to calls for Spandau Ballet's Gold to be made the national anthem. But it has been described by some as a bit of a gimmick.

Assembly Commissioner Peter Black, a Liberal Democrat AM and an enthusiastic blogger, said the Welsh assembly needed to "work in partnership" with "the 'e-community' " to get people fully involved.

"The assembly is committed to using the most modern and inclusive methods available to help people understand, engage and participate in Welsh democracy," he said.

Mr Black said e-democracy had "the potential to engage with people who may not normally take an interest in the assembly".

You do open a bit of a can of worms if you ask people to put their petitions in and then ignore them Phil Nifield, media consultant

He said: "Services such as e-petitioning have the ability to reach many more people than a traditional paper petition and makes the submission of petitions far simpler and senedd.tv makes watching the assembly's proceedings much more accessible to people, not just in Wales but all over the world," he added.

Switched off

While welcoming the plans, media consultant and former South Wales Echo political editor Phil Nifield said face-to-face contact such a roadshow might be more successful.

"A couple of politicians there asking the first minister or one of the ministers questions would in some ways get them closer to people than doing it over the internet," he said.

He said it would be interesting to observe how the politicians responded to the more controversial petitions they received.

"The petitions [idea] is going to be an interesting one to see if they actually take any notice of what petitions come in," he said.

"You do open a bit of a can of worms if you ask people to put their petitions in and then ignore them, so they'll have to think about things a bit more," he added.

He was sceptical about the potential viewing figures for senedd.tv, but said it was worth giving people the opportunity to log on to assembly debates.

"I used to have the assembly TV on my computer when I was at the Echo and I probably didn't switch it on all that much during debates and I'm keen on it, so I wonder whether people will watch it really."