Not by technology alone: The “analog” aspects of online public engagement in policymaking

• Digital divide is a useful lens to analyze disparities in online civic engagement.
• Technology is necessary, but not sufficient, for effective online civic engagement.
• Motivation, skill, and participatory literacy are barriers to online engagement.
• CeRI addresses barriers to effective engagement through socio-technical solutions.
• The cost of technology is a small part of the price of effective online engagement.

Between Twitter revolutions and Facebook elections, there is a growing belief that information and communication technologies are changing the way democracy is practiced. The discourse around e-government and online deliberation is frequently focused on technical solutions and based in the belief that if you build it correctly they will come. This paper departs from the literature on digital divide to examine barriers to online civic participation in policy deliberation. While most scholarship focuses on identifying and describing those barriers, this study offers an in-depth analysis of what it takes to address them using a particular case study. Based in the tradition of action research, this paper focuses on analysis of practices that evolved in Regulation Room—a research project of CeRI (Cornell eRulemaking Initiative) that works with federal government agencies in helping them engage public in complex policymaking processes. It draws a multidimensional picture of motivation, skill, and general political participation divides; or the “analog” aspects of the digital divide in online civic participation and policy deliberation.