Affiliations: [a] Oslo Business School, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway | [b] Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia | [c] Departamento de Ciencia Política, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Sveinung Legard, Oslo Business School, Oslo Metropolitan University, Postbox 4, St. Olavs plass, 0130 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: lesv@oslomet.no.
Abstract: E-participation research has mainly been concerned with the spread of e-participation technologies, but less with why some government organizations choose to use digital tools to consult citizens (e-consultation) whereas others go further and include them in the decision-making processes (e-decision making). This article is an in-depth, comparative case-study of the adoption of e-participation platforms in Oslo, Melbourne and Madrid, and develops an alternative explanatory framework using theories of institutional entrepreneurship and change. It shows that conventional adoption theory – focusing on resource slack, socio-economic development, competition and top-down mandates – is not able to account for the differences between these cases, and argues that the degree of e-participation should be understood as an outcome of the type and agenda of change agents, the level of institutional discretion, the strength of institutional defenders, and the resources of the change agents.
Keywords: e-participation, innovation, institutional change, urban governance, digitizationKey points for practitioners:•Practitioners can learn from different pathways chosen by cities to adopt e-consultation and e-decision making schemes.•Implementing e-decision making requires high levels of popular mobilization and political support.•Digital participation beyond mere window dressing is possible, even in large, contemporary metropolises.
