Evaluating the Efficacy of E-Participation Experiences

In the last decade, a number of e-participation experiences have been collected based on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). These projects have made a contribution to the revitalisation of democracy by increasing transparency in governance and creating new political spaces for communication and participation. Whilst different studies have evaluated the overall success of e-participation experiences, few studies have analysed their impact and added value. The authors of this paper stress the importance of evaluating e-participation experiences along three factors: Efficiency (doing things correctly); Efficacy (achieving goals) and Effectiveness (doing what is right). A framework for evaluating these three impact values is currently being developed. The paper at hand digs into efficacy and presents a set of attributes and indicators for the evaluation of the efficacy of e-participation. These indicators – as part of the overall evaluation framework for efficiency, efficacy and effectiveness – have been applied to a real-life e-participation project that utilised the cognitive democracy experience known as e-Cognocracy. This project was implemented in the municipality of Cadrete (Zaragoza), Spain.