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Civic engagement and parliamentary mechanisms for participatory democracy:

a case study of the Assembly of the Republic, Portugal

Conference Paper · November 2018

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Leonor Calvão Borges Maria Beatriz Marques

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 Civic engagement and parliamentary mechanisms for participatory
democracy: a case study of the Assembly of the Republic, Portugal

ABSTRACT
1 INTRODUCTION
This paper aims to reflect on parliamentary mechanisms of
participatory democracy as one of the forms of citizen The evolution of public sector management models,
participation through new media, focusing on the Portuguese particularly in what concerns the development and
Parliament. application of information and communication technologies
It begins with a general review of the literature on the (ICT), has consolidated two concepts: e-government and
evolution of governance models through the concepts of e- open government, which are operative in the development of
gov, open gov, and participatory democracy, identifying the participatory democracy.
extension of these models to parliamentary institutions (e-
parliaments), and specific about ways of exercising These concepts, covering a wide range of activities, are
citizenship in the digital age, with emphasis on the evolution associated to a set of specific themes that the scientific
of participatory democracy models in Europe. literature identifies, and which are also reflected in the
approval of legislative packages.
A case study was developed in the Portuguese Parliament,
identifying its adaptation and implementation of In fact, e-government is associated with the development of
mechanisms for participatory democracy. For that, the study ICT, and the concern with the usability of its channels, the
presents the respective regulations and a qualitative and problems of digital divide and issues related to data privacy.
quantitative analysis of the data of its website since its At the same time, open government emerges as a form of
beginning till 2017, highlighting the role of the Digital response to empowerment and accountability, and translates
Parliament Working Group in the assessment and proposed into measures that promote transparency, collaboration and
improvements in this area. participation.

It is concluded by the progressive citizen adhesion to these Parliamentary institutions have, of course, adapted these
mechanisms, in a general way, and, concretely that the conceptual models, tracing a path of openness to citizen
Portuguese Parliament has been progressively making participation, which can be analyzed through global
citizen participation possible - both with the massive measures to implement mechanisms of participatory
dissemination of contents and the adequacy of forms of democracy and existing good practices.
direct communication with the Citizens - whose numbers
have been evolving significantly. The case study in the Portuguese Parliament makes it
possible to measure and verify the way in which the
However, the parliament’s website still presents difficulties institution has created and developed forms of
of information visualization, as well as the competition of communication and mechanisms of citizen participation
two non-governmental websites that replicate its data in a within it.
more appealing way.
2 Governance models
2.1 Governance models in the Information Society
The financial crisis of 20081, stemming from a possible
KEYWORDS overload of obsolete knowledge, profoundly undermined the
Electronic government, Open government, Participatory pillars of capitalism and advocated an imminent institutional
democracy, Assembly of the Republic implosion (Toffler e Toffler, 2006, 132)., inaugurating a new
social order dominated by a certain cannibalization of
markets2 and a lack of control in access and dissemination of
information.

1 2
Whose point of no return started with the bankruptcy of the Markets were understood by Adam Smith as the invisible hand,
traditional American investment bank Lehman Brothers. this abstract entity that regulated the business relations of a society,
but which was little active at the beginning of the twenty-first
This viral phenomenon has infected humanity on a global from its conception / production, treatment, registration and
scale and has undermined the virtues inherent in the era of custody, to its communication and use.
quick and easy access to information as a crucial element for
creativity, innovation3 and the development of humanity. This awareness of the value of information for decision-
making has created a new scenario for the Knowledge
Within this context, we present some contributions in the Society, where "the success of an individual, of a new
field of analysis of the phenomenon of an information- millennium organization, no longer depends on his physical,
communicational nature, allowing an efficient and effective material or economic of their capacity to increase the
management of the information produced and received by available knowledge, that is, to create and innovate
the parliamentary organizations, in order to increase the permanently in order to satisfy themselves and to satisfy the
transparency, improve the excellence of their performance communities in which they are involved "(Marques, Vicente,
and build their identity and memory. 2015, p. 2).

In this perspective, the value of knowledge has a contingent, In this context, together with the information explosion of
situational and contextual character very accentuated and the 1990s and the difficulty in controlling the large
depends on the use that is made of information, which "is not documentary masses resulting from the increasing
a mechanical process, objective or easily measured, because organizational complexity, a categorical imperative of the
it depends on the human being who knows, thinks, is 21st Century arises from the need to systematize its
emotional, has unique characteristics and is inserted in a management.
specific context"(Marques, 2017, p. 53).
Thus, the organizations of the most varied business areas,
From here we can infer that without information, the and in particular the parliamentary institutions, begin to
research would be useless and there would be no knowledge, make the quality of available information depend on the
but overload information can lead to very similar and excellence of their performance, since:
devastating results so that the ultimate goal of an
Information System and Services and / or information “Hence, and contrarily to what happens with all other
products4, should be thought in terms of the uses given to sources of wealth like oil, water, capital, etc, in which
information and the effects resulting from those uses in property is determinant to its use and/ or inherent
citizens' activities. That is, the value of information is not dividends, with information, more than having, or
only conferred by the relationship that organizations accessing, to the wealth source, it is fundamental
establish between inputs and outputs, but the return, the knowing how to use it, reuse it, in favour of
outcomes, or impact of their use on happiness and for the development, progress and planet, countries and
wellbeing of humanity. individuals’ sustainability” (Marques, 2013, p. 138).

Thus, despite the complexity of the raw material nature of As part of this approach, "the concept of sustainable
this new society and leading to a multiplicity of definitions, development implies, through permanent learning, an
it seems to us absolutely consensual, particularly in the light information-communicational process conducive to making
of a holistic and systemic view of information, the need to wise and wise decisions in relation to the challenges of a
manage it in particular in the parliamentary context , to add global society" (Marques, 2017, p. 52).
value and meaning through a diversified set of activities,
which can be designated by information flow and ranging “Thus, the vitality of information is not granted by

4
century, especially in regard to its regulatory function. Referring By Information Service or Information Unit we refer to the
also to the role of the market as the guarantor of social order, Rifkin Archive, Library, Documentation Center or Museum. That is, the
(2001: 24) attributes it to a dual nature - it can be our talisman and Services and their Information Products will be the natural /
our compass, and sometimes also the curse that hurts our lives. artificial consequence of the operation of the IS, the outputs, the
3 Creativity and innovation, such as information and knowledge, outputs. As Gomes states. "An archive service or a Library, as a
are not synonymous. As Theodore Levitt points out, cit. by Thomas service, can be part of a System, as Organizations, can constitute a
J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr. (1987, p. 194-195), creativity System, but cannot be confused with the IS (which includes all
is the process of thinking, imagining new things. Innovation is information produced / received and accumulated, regardless of the
doing new things. Creativity is words and innovation acts, hence existence of a service, process, store, disseminate and preserve)."
the importance of moving from words to deeds, because ideas are (Gomes, 2017, p. 54).
useless, however brilliant they may be, if they are not implemented.
2
 the passage from a physical cemetery to a digital Thus, in the context of globalization, the functioning logic
cemetery. That vitality is not achieved by simply of organizations in a closed system, typical of a production
making the information available in the Web, society, focused on themselves, the quality of their products
although in constant growth. For the information and services and immune to any influence of the external
accumulated by the human being to be useful, it is environment, which predominated during almost all the past
necessary for it to feed the cognitive ability, exclusive century, is irremediably jeopardized by the Consumer
to the human being, of generating knowledge, of Society or Network Society.
being creative and innovative”. (Marques, 2013, p.
138-139) We consider that its process of development and
sedimentation will evolve towards a new Philosophy of
The emergence, especially over the last decade, of new Organizations known as Knowledge Management or
actors in the decision-making process5 leads to new Management of Intangible Assets or Management of
geopolitics and has a significant impact on human Intellectual Capital, or Management of People, understood
development6, putting the discussion on the very concept of as the only ones capable of generating value throughout the
development in all its complexity7 and leading to the Management process and as the most important variable of
deconstruction of some of the preconceived ideas, namely organizations.
that of the association, and often subordination, relationship
between economic growth and human development 8. We are also of the opinion that the strategy developed by this
new Society is carefully planned and has little ingenuity,
Thus, the need to study man and his circumstances in the amateurism or impromptu.
21st century - as a digital being - begins to be a recurring
theme of research developed in recent years in the field of It can be seen as a project of groups that dominate the public
Social and Human Sciences in general, and IS in particular9, and private power and that, instead of promoting the
the human being at the center of all political, economic, knowledge and the emancipation of the citizens, they intend
social, cultural and, of course, technological decisions 10. to foment the massification, the unanimous, the illiteracy,
the ignorance and a new type of modern colonization.
In this new society, and contrary to the binary division of the
Enlightenment universe - active cognitive subjects and 2.2 Evolution of Governance Models
passive knowledge objects (Rifkin, 2001, p 231) - subject
and object are inseparable, and the world becomes a 2.2.1 From e-government to open government
construction of the human spirit11.
The adoption of ICTs in the public sector and, more recently,
the massive use of Internet channels are generally considered

5 8
Like many of the southern countries, formerly designated as As the UN says (ONE, 2013: 65-66), "higher income does not
developing states - China, South Africa, India and Brazil. See UN necessarily translate into a corresponding improvement in human
(2013: 1). According to this report, by 2050, Brazil, China and well-being ... Development has to do with the process of changing
India are expected to account for 40% of world output in terms of a society to improve the well-being of the population from
purchasing power parity. generation to generation - broadening their range of choice in the
6 Human Development is understood to mean "the extension of fields of health, education and income and expanding their
people's freedoms so that they have long, healthy and creative lives freedoms and possibilities for meaningful participation in society".
9 See, for example, Michael Buckland's article, 2012.
to anticipate other goals that they have reason to value and to
10 The Green Paper on the Information Society in Portugal states
actively engage in the equitable and sustainable development of
development on a shared planet. People are at the same time the that the Information Society is an expression referring to a mode of
beneficiaries and promoters of human development, both social and economic development in which the acquisition, storage,
individually and in groups. " In ONU (2010: 2). processing, valorization, transmission, distribution and
7 It is at the level of the increasing complexity of contemporary dissemination of leading information knowledge creation and
society that the discussion of the paradigmatic change in progress meeting the needs of citizens and businesses play a central role in
is put, which is translated in the passage of the access to the use of economic activity, wealth creation, citizens' quality of life and
the information. As K. J. McGarry (1984: 150) points out, cultural practices. In Green paper for the information society in
"information is interdependent on population growth and social Portugal (1997: 7).
11 As Rifkin states, "it is no longer a world of objectivity but of
organization. The more cohesive and intricate the organization of
society, the more information it generates; reciprocally, more contingency, it is no longer based on truths but on choices and
information becomes necessary to lubricate the gears of society and scenarios." (Rifkin, 2001, p. 234)
safeguard the rights and well-being of its members. "
3
to be the root of e-government. Thus, people, processes, (Reddick & Aikins, 2012), thus paving the way for
technologies and resources involved in a process of innovation in this sector.
government transformation, modernization of processes and
functions, and better delivery mechanisms are commonly This evolution in the management model translates into a
identified as pillars of e-government, with citizens being new concept, the one of governance, understood as a process
targeted. of use of the TICs for a broader, and mainly, collaborative
participation of the citizens (Leitmer, 2003).
Despite this, some authors suggest some indeterminacy in
this concept (Fang 2002, Northrup & Thorson 2002, Yildiz Thus, not only did the public administration change its
2007 and Ahn 2012), however, it is possible to highlight organization-centric vision to citizen centric (Marche &
essential characteristics in the light of public sector McNiven, 2003, Lips, 2006), as the way of exercising
management models. The authors highlight the issue of citizenship rights came to be seen with greater exigency,
improving the quality of services (government-to- facing the citizen not only as a client but also as an actor of
government G2G), and their accessibility by citizens governance (Marques, 2013).
(government-to-citizen G2C), translated into a new
management model: New Public Management (NPM) in a Throughout the twentieth century, the notion of
post-bureaucratic paradigm that is reflected in the New representative democracy has evolved into participatory
Public Services (NPS). democracy, where the role of civil society is an integral part
of its modus operandi. Norberto Bobbio (2007) refers to the
All of these issues are relevant to the concept of open expansion of the democratization process through
government, which has its origins in the access to public participation, assuming it as a process where citizenship is
sector information movement and led to the adoption of the not reflected in the forms of representation.
first Freedom of Information Acts (FOIAs) in the Anglo-
Saxon world (Yu & Robinson, 2012) and Clarke & Francoli, In fact, the exercise of citizenship rights evolved from mere
2014). access to government information, public consultation and
active participation (Fonseca, 2003, Mozzicafredo, 2001,
Openness to citizens has benefited from consolidated Noveck, 2009, Madeira, 2009). In this century, the latter has
political guidelines, which are considered decisive, such as reached a differentiated status of collaboration with public
the Open Government Directive of President Obama (2009), entities, where the use of electronic queries (e-consultations)
the Open Gov Declaration (2011), signed by the United "interactive tell-us-what-you think" (Tomkova, 2009, 46),
States and seven other countries, followed by national and has been revealed another model of auscultation of the
such as the Australian Government's Gov 2.0 Taskforce and citizens, with very different objectives, actors, themes and
the European public sector information reuse directive. It is, results. Tomkova identifies five types of electronic queries:
moreover, a heavily legislated area, where the laws on access forums on government websites, online polls, petitions, and
to public sector information, whether they are FOIAs or laws electronic panels. Common to all is the bottom-up approach
on access to administrative documents and their access and citizen participation in decision-making processes. The
commissions, and, above all, the re-use of information in the project of the French government La Republique Numérique
public sector between the approval of electronic en actes: écrivons ensemble la loi numérique, launched and
administration codes or until recently, the approval of a completed in 2015, was highlighted by its novelty. It was an
digital governance policy in Brazil (Decree 8638 of January on-line consultation to co-write a bill for a digital republic.
15, 2016). In total, 21,330 citizens contributed and voted nearly
150,000 times, presenting 8,500 arguments, amendments
2.2.2 Participatory Democracy and Citizenship and proposals for new articles, in what the government has
called a collective intelligence exercise.
NPS benefits greatly from the use of web 2.0, which
increases the capacity for citizen participation, leading some Adherence to these governance models and proposals has
authors to introduce the concept of government 2.0. been regularly studied through the United Nations Reports
However, both O'Reilley and Reddick & Aikins argue that on e-Government, as well as on electronic parliaments, and
government 2.0 is not a new management model but rather a has benefited from multiple academic studies, albeit with a
development of e-government, understood as a collaborative less comprehensive geographical scope.
platform (O'Reilley, 2010) with citizens as partners and not

4
In the same way, the scientific literature on smart cities citizens with respect to the performance of representative
identifies citizen participation, namely the one institutions" (a tentativa de contrariar e responder à crescente
operationalized through digital means, as a critical success insatisfação dos cidadãos relativamente ao desempenho das
factor for its development (Praharaj, Han, Hawken, 2017, instituições representativas) (Tibúrcio, 2016, 184).
Vidiasova, Kachurina & Cronemberger, 2017, Al Nasrawi,
Adams & El-Zaart, 2015). Another mechanism that emerged after the entry into force
of the Lisbon Treaty, and through the adoption of Regulation
Similarly, studies on the evaluation of government or (EU) No 211/2011 of the European Parliament and of the
parliamentary websites have contributed to a critical Council of 16 February 2011 on the Citizenship, gives
reflection of these tools (Choudrie 2004, Filgueiras et al citizens the direct possibility, through citizens' right of
2004, Joshi, 2013, Leston-Bandeira 2007, Wood et al, 2003), legislative initiative, to participate in the definition of EU
when not even for its improvement. policies. The mechanism, designed to act as an initiative
proposal to be developed by the European Commission,
2.2.3 The evolution of the parliamentary models requires the support of* at least one million EU citizens from
of participatory democracy at least 7 of the 28 Member States and in each of these 7
Member States, a minimum number of subscribers.
Parliamentary institutions have been following these
management models, working to digitalize their contents Finally, as a result of the World e-Parliament Conference
(minutes of plenary sessions) and making available current held in Rome in 2012, a Declaration on Parliamentary
and relevant parliamentary information for a good Openness was launched by the Opening Parliament Org,
accountability process (databases of the legislative process which established a series of principles on openness,
and availability information on parliamentarians) on a multi- transparency and accessibility of parliaments supported by
channel basis (websites, free TV channels, web 2.0 more than 140 organizations from 75 countries.
membership). (Grifish & Leston-Bandeira, 2012, Joshi &
Rosenfield, 2013, Setälä, & Grönlund, 2006, Bernardes &
Bandeira, 2016). 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Its implementation has benefited from guides and studies 3.1 Case study: the Portuguese Parliament
from international institutions such as the Inter-
Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations, the The case study in the Portuguese Parliament was elaborated
European Union, the World Bank and the European Center using documentary analysis (identification of legislation and
for Parliamentary Research & Documentation (ECPRD) good practices), qualitative analysis of the layout and
with the aim to provide access to information, consultation content of its website and quantitative collection of data
and participation, of which we highlight the UIP Guidelines regarding citizens' adhesion to existing participation
for the content and structure of Parliamentary websites 2000 mechanisms.
and Guidelines for parliamentary websites, 2009 and the
World e-Parliament Reports 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and The notion of participatory democracy as an objective to be
2016. achieved is embodied in the Constitution of the Portuguese
Republic, which, in its article 2, states that the Portuguese
In addition to the development of sites, the availability of the Republic is a democratic state based on the rule of law (...) "
legislative process and the massive digitization of content, in with a view to achieving economic, social and cultural
Europe one of the most successful cases in parliamentary democracy and deepening participatory democracy”. The
institutions occurred with the possibility of submitting same Constitution provides guarantees of political
petitions electronically (Lindner & Riehm, 2009) for the participation by citizens through its Articles 52 (Right to
development of a true mechanism of citizen participation. petition and right of actio popularis) and 167 (Initiative in
Although the right of petition is recognized by the relation to laws and referenda).
constitutions of most countries and is therefore as old as the
date of their promulgation, the possibility of submitting 3.2 Regulations
petitions electronically has broadened their representation.
In Europe this process began with the Scottish Parliament in The Assembly of the Republic, through the adoption of
the middle of 2000, with the final version being made legislation and good practices regarding its way of acting,
available in 2004, in what Tibúrcio refers to as "the attempt has sought to apply the concept to its procedures, promoting
to counteract and respond to the growing dissatisfaction of
5
mechanisms for content’s dissemination and citizen 2016, created the Working Group for
participation, whose list can be seen in the following table: the Digital Parliament (GTPD)
Public Legal Regime governing Referenda.
Through the approval of the Organic
Content’s Law no. 6/97, of March 1, with the consultation
Law of the Referenda Regime - Law
modifications introduced by Law no. No. 15-A / 98, of April 3, with the
availability
36/2012, of August 27 - Undertakes the amendments introduced by Organic
first amendment to Law no. 6/97, of 1 Law No. 4/2005, of September 8,
March 1997, which authorizes the Organic Law No. 3/2010, of December
broadcasting of parliamentary 15, Organic Law no. 1/2011, of
proceedings on the public and private November 30, Law no. 72-A / 2015, of
cable TV networks, making it available July 23 and Organic Law No. 1/2016,
via digital terrestrial television of August
Resolution of the Assembly of the Citizens Exercise of the Right of Petition,
Republic no. 68/2003, of August 7, approved by Law no. 43/90, of August
which sets the new electronic Participation
10, as amended by Law no. 6/93, of
publishing system of the Diário da March 1, Law no. 15/2003, of June,
Assembleia da República and new and Law no. 45/2007, of August 24,
rules for the use of new Information which introduced the possibility of
and Communication Technologies in being exercised via electronic mail
Parliamentary Work. Legislative Initiative by Citizens,
Resolution of the Assembly of the approved by Law no. 17/2003, of June
Republic no. 35/2007, of August 20, 4, with the changes introduced by Law
approving the scheme of the editing no. 26/2012, of July 24, Organic Law
and publication of the Journal of the no. 1/2016, of 26 of August and Law
Assembleia da República (DAR) no. 52/2017 of 13 July 2017.
Resolution of the Assembly of the (Declaration of Rectification no.
Republic no. 37/2007 of 20 August, as 24/2017 of 5 September 2017)
amended by Assembly Resolution no.
122/2012 of 27 August, which Table 1 – List of legislation approved by the Portuguese
approves the regime for the Parliament regarding citizen’s participation
Parliament Channel and the website
of the Assembleia da República In terms of contents availability, RAR 68/2003 promotes
Resolution of the Assembly of the documentary dematerialization, also determining the
Republic No. 53/2007, of October 19, existence on the AR website of "a zone reserved for the
approving the Free Software personal page or weblog of each Member for electronic
Initiative in Parliament, dissemination of information regarding the exercise of his
Resolution of the Assembly of the mandate in the Assembly of the Republic and in its circle
Republic No. 64/2014, of July 10, and easier interaction with the voters, whose management is
approving the Declaration on their sole responsibility, in articulation with the services".
Parliamentary Openness and With the approval of RAR 37/2007, and, for the first time,
Transparency, which establishes as the Parliament Channel system has been published, which
good parliamentary practice principles has already had experimental broadcasts since December
similar to the open government model: 2001, became regular on 25 April 2003 and, on 25 April
openness, diffusion, citizen 2005, introduced sign language in plenary sessions, with the
involvement, transparency, open aim of improving and deepening the visibility of
formats and massive dissemination of parliamentary work (Diogo, 2008).
parliamentary information.
Order of the President of the Assembly As for Parliament's website, and in addition to the definition
of the Republic No. 26 / XIII, June 16, of mandatory content on parliamentary activity, the
inclusion of forums for interactive discussion in the form of
6
forums, an area intended for the younger audience, should advantage of new technologies, allow to broaden the
be included, noting that the homepage should contain universe of citizens who are involved and interact with the
information and tools that allow interaction with the citizen, Assembly of the Republic, encouraging two-way
such as subscribing to newsletters, subscribing to an alert communication;
system and subscribing to mobile terminal content.
IV. Evaluate the interest in the production of material and
By RAR 35/2007 the official Hansard (DAR) has become contents aimed at specific audiences, presenting possible
exclusive integral edition in electronic format in the website recommendations;
of the Assembly of the Republic on the Internet.
V. Propose improvements in the databases of parliamentary
With the approval of RAR 53/2007, with the aim of making activity, such as the AP (Parliamentary Activity);
available in open formats all the information and
documentation published on the Internet and intranet VI. Encourage, in conjunction with the Government and the
websites of the Assembly of the Republic, allowing its users Presidency of the Republic, the dematerialization of the
access to all content in a way that is not conditioned to the legislative process and seek digital solutions that contribute
use of proprietary software, for which it defined a strict to a better monitoring of the regulation by the Government
timetable (until the end of 2008, not fulfilled), which would of the laws approved by Parliament.
imply the development of a migration plan of applications
and services for free software. The aim was to, with the resources and platforms that exist,
see what could be done to improve digital media to deepen
Finally, by RAR 64/2014, the Portuguese Parliament as its the relationship between Parliament and Portuguese citizens
priority the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness, that and reduce the gap that separates them from political life.
was officially launched at the World e-Parliament
Conference 2012 in Rome, Italy, on the International Day of After analyzing the level of implementation of the
Democracy, September 15, 2012. The reason for the Declaration on the Openness and Transparency of
statement was to listen to “civil society parliamentary Parliamentary Assembly, it was clear that the majority of
monitoring organizations (PMOs) for an increased measures was already in force (see figure 1).
commitment to openness and to citizen engagement in
parliamentary work”, as PMOs are “increasingly recognized Not
for the important role they play in making parliamentary Impleme
information more accessible to citizens, strengthening the nted
capacity of citizens to participate in parliamentary processes, 12%
and improving parliamentary accountability”. (Declaration Impleme
on Parliamentary Openness). nted In part
52% 36%
3.3 Working Group for the Digital Parliament
On June 16, 2016, the President of the Assembly of the
Republic, created the Working Group for the Digital
Parliament (GTPD), with the following mandate:
Figure 1: – Measures of the Declaration on the Openness and
Transparency of Parliamentary Assembly implemented in the
I. Evaluate the implementation of the objectives defined in
AR
the "Declaration on the Openness and Transparency of
Parliamentary Assembly ", approved by Resolution of the However, the four measures not implemented (the use of
Assembly of the Republic No. 64/2014; clear and simple language to ensure that legal or technical
language does not constitute a barrier to citizens, to provide
II. Present proposals for the restructuring of the information information in open and structured formats, in order to make
already available on Parliament's website, making it simpler available its reuse, to allow nominal view of deputies' votes
and more appealing; on your website and, finally, to publicize information about
ethical violations and potential conflicts of interest) revealed
III. Evaluate the possibility of a greater dissemination of
that some work was still to be made regarding
parliamentary activity through new forms of digital
communication with citizens and measures to improve
communication, presenting recommendations that, taking
7
usability and findability of the website, by means of betters
visualization of the information provided.

The Working Group took proceeded on hearings of civil

society opinions and the academia, holding also a
Colloquium on Digital Parliament and Participatory
Democracy, after which a systematic analyze of procedures
od the Assembly of the Republic took place.

By placing new technologies at the service of citizens, the

Figure 3: – AR website in 2000
Group's proposals seek to strengthen the involvement of Source:
citizens and the parliamentary, institution that represents http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20000611141018/http://www.par
them, "with more opportunities for participation, more and lamento.pt/
better information, more accessible, without ever
compromising the rigor or yield to simplisms". The amendment introduced in 1998 (figure 3) already
presents concerns in the area of graphics, while maintaining
3.4 Portuguese Parliament Website (but broadening) the available content.
The Portuguese Parliament's adherence to models of The qualitative leap will occur with the appearance of the
governance and administrative transparency, based on the new version in 2002; not only a new layout, but also a new
use of ICT and internet, followed the evolutive line of information structure and new functionalities (Ferreira,
publish and interact (Center for Democracy and Technology, 2017), such as the appearance of a virtual visit to
2002). Parliament's headquarters, and in 2003 the appearance of the
Parliament Channel and the consequent possibility to watch,
Thus, the creation of the first institutional page in the internet
in direct, to the plenary sessions of the Assembly of the
network and subsequent development of its website, which
Republic.
can be followed in images 2 to 7, closely followed the
evolution of parliamentary sites in the mid-1990s (Bernardes
& Flag, 2016). In fact, the first step was to "open a window"
for citizens, providing information about the institution,
parliamentarians, legislative process, and government
oversight, with the latter two still containing limited
chronologically content.

Figure 4: – AR website in 2003

Source:
http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20030210190837/http://www.par
lamento.pt/index2.html

Figure 2: – AR website in 1996

In 2004, a new potential was given, giving access to internal
Source: data bases, and began to make available the Parliamentary
http://arquivo.pt/wayback/19970206233802/http://www.par Debates between 1821 and the present time, resulting from
lamento.pt/ the massive digitization of the minutes of the plenary
sessions, as well as the Library catalog.

8
 http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20081027160626/http://www.par
lamento.pt/EspacoCidadao/Paginas/default.aspx#

The evolution of the website has brought more visibility to

the parliamentary activity and more visitors, whose
evolution can be seen in figure 8
Figure 5: – AR website in 2004
Source:
http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20041022043407/http://www.par Visitors on the Parliament
lamento.pt/documentacao/index.html
website
4000000
The last change, in 2008, presents a content manager that
facilitates a greater decentralization of information (Ferreira, 3000000
2017) and an area designated as citizen space, "dedicated to 2000000
all those who actively want to participate in parliamentary 1000000
activity." The space provides contact points, direct links to
0
the request for information and mechanisms for participatory
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
democracy, such as online petitions, citizens' legislative
initiative and participation in discussion forums, and is Figure 8: – Number of visitors on the Parliament website:
specially designed to promote the exercise of citizenship and 2010-2016
the sharing of knowledge through citizen participation. Source:

The Parliament is currently working on the launch of a new

website. However, civil society has reacted to the difficulty
in understanding parliamentary information by designing
two sites with information replicated on the parliament
website but with significant differences of view:

- Demo.cratica, created in 2016 by a research studio of free

Figure 6: – AR website mainpage in 2008 methodologies in design, with the aim of providing
Source: information in open formats on the plenary sessions and the
http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20081022010350/http://www.par deputies elected in the current legislature;
lamento.pt/Paginas/default.aspx#

Figure 9: – Demo.cratica website

Source: http://demo.cratica.org/

Figure 7: – AR website: citizen’s space in 2008

Source: - the Hemicycle, which was launched in 2017, with the aim
of being "a space that aims to bring citizens closer to
9
democracy and one of their most important institutions - the
Assembly of the Republic", providing information "that
intends to contribute to a better understanding of the
parliamentary process, for a more in-depth analysis of the
interaction between the entities that comprise it, and for a
more rigorous scrutiny of the elected representatives that
execute it ", noting that one of the" most important records
provided in this space is the voting meaning of each elected
representative about every decision made - information that
was, until now, inaccessible to Portuguese citizens. "

Figure 11: – Evolution of the number of petitions submitted to

the AR: 1976-2018
Source: Parliamentary Activity Database
Figure 10: – Hemiciclo website
Source: http://hemiciclo.pt/
Another factor that has contributed to a greater number of
petitions was the implementation, in 2007, of the possibility
3.5 Citizens Participation of submission of petitions by electronic means, which
proved to be a success: from the 1,671 petitions presented to
As for Citizens Participation in the legislative process, the the parliament from that year to the present day (June 2017),
Citizen Legislative Initiative, probably due to the high 922 were submitted electronically, compared to 749
number of compulsory subscribers (a minimum of 35,000 delivered on paper, as can be seen in figure 12.
voters in the first version, 20,000 in the legislative
amendment of 2016), has had little support in Portugal. In
fact, between 2003 and 2017, only five initiatives were
400
submitted to Parliament (2005, 2012, 2013 and two in 2015,
with 36783, 35008, 43603, 48115 and 43009 subscribers, 300
respectively). Of the initiatives presented, four were 200 Correio
approved and gave rise to Laws and one was rejected.
100 Email
Analyzing now the data on the exercise of the right of 0
petition, we can see (figure 11) that its use has been effective, X Leg XI Leg XII Leg XIII Leg
and with an exponential growth trend in the full legislatures,
that is, when there is no interruption of parliamentary Figure 12: – Evolution of the form of delivery of petitions from
activity due to the dissolution of the AR, as it happens in the the X till XII Legislatures (2005-2017)
II, III, IV, VIII, IX and XI legislatures. Source: Parliamentary Activity Database

4 CONCLUSIONS
This paper aims to analyze whether the adoption of
mechanisms of participatory democracy by parliamentary
institutions has been successful in global terms. For this, a
review of the literature on governance models in the public
10
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