Call for papers: "Electronic Participation (eParticipation)"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Electronic Governance.

Electronic participation (eParticipation) refers to the use of information and communication technologies to enhance political participation and citizen engagement. eParticipation is by definition a multidisciplinary field of study. Today, eParticipation is particularly timely and relevant in various contexts and in diverse environments, e.g. digital democracy; participatory public service design; use of open government data in eParticipation initiatives; use of social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) by citizens, governments and civil servants; top-down and bottom-up eParticipation initiatives related to economic and welfare issues, etc.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the General eParticipation Track of this year's Dual EGOV 2015 and ePart 2015 conference, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• eParticipation research including theories, methods, models and approaches
• The role of social and mobile media and Web 2.0 in eParticipation
• Transparency and open access for eParticipation
• Design and co-creation of participatory public services, bottom-up initiatives
• Privacy, security and ethical considerations in eParticipation
• Advances in eParticipation domains: online deliberation and discourse, participatory budgeting, eConsultation, ePolling, eLegislation, eElectioneering, eCampaigning and eVoting
• Advances in participatory policy making using policy modelling, simulation, impact assessment and visualisation methods and tools
• eParticipation and big data
• Smart cities and the role of citizens
• Environmental information systems and citizen participation
• The role of eParticipation in national and global crisis situations
• Comparative analyses of eParticipation practices
• Impact assessment and public value considerations of eParticipation on real world decision making
• Digital literacy and its consequences for eParticipation
• eParticipation projects: design, implementation, evaluation, quality and impact

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 27 November, 2015