Matt Ryan

This paper explores the use of online tools to improve democratic participation and deliberation. These tools offer new opportunities for inclusive communication and networking, specifically targeting the participation of diverse groups in decision-making processes. It summarises recent research and published reports by users of these tools and categorises the tools according to functions and objectives. It also draws on testimony and experiences recorded in interviews with some users of these tools in public sector and civil society organisations internationally. The objective is to introduce online deliberation tools to a wider audience, including benefits, limitations and potential disadvantages, in the immediate context of research on democratic deliberation. We identify limitations of tools and of the context and markets in which online deliberation tools are currently being developed. The paper suggests that fostering a collaborative approach among technology developers and democratic practitioners, might improve opportunities for funding and continual optimisation that have been used successfully in other online application sectors.

The internet has given rise to many new opportunities and challenges for the functioning of democracy. This paper suggests that early optimism that the internet would be innately democratic in its effects was replaced over time by the recognition of a wider range of positive and negative effects and potential. It notes that this more mature and pragmatic consensus nevertheless values the internet as a vital support to democracy, and even as a human right. The paper notes that the continual emergence of new technologies, most recently generative artificial intelligence, will generate new opportunities and challenges in the future. While attention is paid to emerging threats, more support for exploring the emerging benefits of the new technologies to democracy would also deliver positives. The paper’s conclusions identify lessons from the use of deliberation tools in the broader context of the continued interactions between the internet and democracy, suggesting that democratic activity online could benefit from integrating expertise in democratic discourse into design, and by incentivising investment in and reward for deliberative use of online platforms.