Heseltine Institute for Public Policy & Practice

The debate on the potential of the internet to transform democratic practice appears to have settled around a balanced, empirically driven consensus that sees the internet as a political sphere of influence. This article acknowledges this and drawing upon a network ethnography approach provides empirical evidence demonstrating how this online sphere was used to influence the recent Manchester Congestion Charge referendum in the UK. It illustrates the online sphere as a locally contested political space where “politics as usual” appears to prevail. Nonetheless, it also provides evidence of civic activists ably using the online network to get their voices heard and argues that prospects for this online sphere enhancing local democracy are in fact contingent upon the agency of these activists and local policy makers.

Local government in England has, in general, struggled with exploiting the much heralded democratic potential of the Internet. Evaluations of the local e-democracy initiatives, funded as part of the New Labour Government’s e-government programme, were largely unfavourable. Since this initiative ended usage of the Internet has arguably reached a critical mass opening new opportunities for local policy makers interested in more effectively involving citizens in the local decision-making process. This article illustrates these opportunities by drawing on new empirical evidence of the online political activity associated with the 2008 Manchester Congestion Charge referendum. It also serves to highlight the political challenges facing local government and argues that if the Internet is to be used for strengthening local democracy then local government must become a fit for purpose institution and develop strategies that tackle the online influence of vested economic interests and the problem of enacting local citizenship online.

What are the prospects for the Web enhancing the local governance process by provid- ing a networked public sphere? This article addresses this question by researching online local civic activity associated with a case study of a UK local government referendum. Drawing upon social network analysis theory, this research first of all applies relational hyperlink analysis to map and struc- turally analyze the hyperlinked network. Second, it draws upon a network ethnography approach to identify and then interview key actors associated with this network. The results suggest a need for pol- icy intervention to counter the distinct homophily effects and “politics as usual” scenario uncovered in the local online network.