Empowering local citizens: assessing the inclusiveness of a digital democratic innovation for co-creating a Voting Advice Application

Gianola, Giada; Wyss, Dominik; Bächtiger, André; Gerber, Marlène (2023). Empowering local citizens: assessing the inclusiveness of a digital democratic innovation for co-creating a Voting Advice Application. Local government studies, 50(1), pp. 174-203. Taylor & Francis 10.1080/03003930.2023.2185228

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Increasing citizen dissatisfaction with democracy leads governments and municipalities across the globe to seek new ways of including and empowering citizens. Little is known about whether ‘Digital Democratic Innovations’ (DDIs) could contribute to this goal. We developed a new DDI in a Swiss municipality, dubbed Demokratiefabrik, where 1,079 citizens co-created a questionnaire that served as an official Voting Advice Application for candidates and voters in communal elections. We find that while sophisticated and allegiant citizens and left-green voters participated more in the DDI, they did not dominate the process of creating the questionnaire. Intriguingly, citizens with lower political trust were particularly active on the platform, suggesting that DDIs might give disenchanted citizens a new voice in the political process. Overall, carefully designed DDIs can be a venue for inclusive citizen participation, involving and empowering local citizens in decision-making.

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