The Distribution of E-democracy and E-participation Tools in Slovenian Municipalities

Abstract

Abstract Paper analyses the usage of e-democracy in Slovenian municipalities from the viewpoint of e-participation tools. Theoretical origin of the paper is the theory of e-democracy in connection with the information and communication technology (ICT). ICT allows participation and inclusiveness to the citizens in the processes of decision making with the usage of various tools of e-participation (e-contact, e-forum, e-survey, e-petition, etc.). We analyzed official web pages of all 211 Slovenian municipalities and found out that all municipalities offer e-access and various forms of e-consultations to its citizens, but other e-tools can only be sparsely found. In addition, the comparative analysis of the survey results from 2006 and 2009 shows that the number of municipalities, which offer diverse tools of e-participation, is slowly decreasing.