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Amanda Clarke
2010 Trudeau Scholar
amanda.clarke@trudeaufoundation.net
Current Research
D.Phil. Information, Communication and Social Sciences, University of Oxford
Reforming Public Governance in the Digital Age: Learning from e-consultations in Canada and the United KingdomBiography
Amanda's research is inspired by her long-standing interest in the relationship between citizens and the state. As an undergraduate student at Carleton University's College of the Humanities, Amanda studied the various ways in which human societies, from ancient to modern times, have conceived of political community, and the relationship between citizens and their political leaders. Building on this philosophical examination of the citizen-state relationship, Amanda's MA research focused on collaborative governance models and the role of civil society in Canadian policy making. This research considered the institutional features of public agencies that allow citizens to meaningfully contribute to the policy process, features that Amanda found were not always present in the government departments she worked with upon completion of graduate studies. At the same time, through work with food security advocacy groups, social housing projects, and youth arts programs, Amanda learned first-hand how well-intentioned government policies and programs can fail to meet their intended goals when those whom these policies and programs affect most are not invited to shape them.
Given these existing interests and experiences, Amanda's research into online citizen engagement strategies for Canada's Parliamentary Information and Research Service soon inspired her return to academic study. Through this work, Amanda recognized that even though governments and legislatures increasingly refer to the Internet as a panacea for dwindling levels of trust and interest in democratic institutions, these references are rarely coupled with concrete proposals for reforming the models of decision-making at work in these institutions. Amanda argues that without such reforms, the networked state-citizen relationship to which digital democracy enthusiasts aspire cannot be realised. Her doctoral work will consider the governance model required for legitimate online citizen participation, emphasising the cultural, institutional and behavioural changes that this model implies for public bodies. With this work, Amanda hopes to contribute to a growing field of scholarly research focused on democratic renewal and to support governments and legislatures interested in using web based tools to meaningfully engage with citizens.Project Description
Reforming Public Governance in the Digital Age: Learning from e-consultations in Canada and the United Kingdom
As interest and trust in democratic processes dwindle in tandem with growing accessibility to the Internet, much attention is directed to the web and its capacity to support more transparent and participatory governing institutions. That said, while the Internet presents an unprecedented opportunity for low-cost interaction between citizens, public servants, and legislators, this opportunity will not necessarily reinvigorate the practise of citizenship without the adoption of a corresponding governance model that accommodates a more networked state-citizen relationship. Amanda's research considers what such a governance model might entail by examining the role of e-consultations in the policy processes of governments and legislatures in Canada and the United Kingdom. Her work will inform a series of recommendations regarding contemporary public governance, and the institutional reforms required for e-consultations to facilitate legitimate citizen participation in the policy process.Trudeau Foundation Themes
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