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DIGITAL VISION: TOWARDS
THE REALIZATION OF VIRTUAL DEMOCRACY ON A NATIONAL/GLOBAL SCALE?
Ahmet Yıldız
Library
Research Service of Turkish Parliament
Political
Science Subject Specialist
Introduction
In
this presentation, I will try to inquire on the impact of digitilisation on the
development and evolution of democratic polity by emphasizing the role of
parliamentary libraries in the process with a special reference to the Turkish
case. I will ask some preliminary questions, naturally, with no conclusive
answers.
The
development of digital society and its growing effects on parliaments and democracy
have given rise to a new vocabulary including such terms as digital, information,
dialog, consultation, web library, interaction and media. The ongoing
developments in the field are related to both information society and
communication technology. We may see these developments from a two different
viewpoints: firstly, as technical
ones that would leave parliaments untouched but more effective or, secondly,
ones that would radically change our way of social organisation, hence
changing the role of parliament in the digital age. These two viewpoints are
crucial in moulding our position vis a vis the digital imperative. The relevant
future in this regard is closely related with the socio-economic and political
context we stand therein: whose future are we talking about? Do we talk an
homogenous and equalising developmental trend or an unequal development which
would trigger the information disparity and hence the democracy gap
among the rich and the poor or young and old, or literate and low literate.
In terms of the impact of digitalisation on
the functioning of the parliamentary library and on democratisation, I will take
the following questions as central:
Can
ICTs serve to underpin democratic
process?
Can
digital tecnologies serve the citizens rather than only their representatives?
To
what extent is the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) using Internet as a
means of communication with the public?
What
kind of information is offered to the representatives and the public?
Is
there one way or also two way communication?
What
is the number of feedback mechanisms established to get return
information from the citizens and other organisations?
Citizens vs. MPs: Who is the Audience?
Although
they are both the main audience of the parliamentary libraries in the digital
environment, when we focus on deputies rather than the citizenry as our audience
in the digitilisation process, the most practical point that strikes us is that
parlamentarians need the right information at the right time in order to make
correct analysis and insightful contributions to the parliamentary process. The
promptness and accuracy of information is
very important to MPs in fulfilling their legislative and supervision functions.
MPs need to be up-to-date in their grasp of local, national and international
socio-economic and political developments. Lack of proper information or
inadequacy and delay in its
provision may lead to heavily subjective or deeply distorted assesment of the
factual situation, a detrimental condition for the preservation of public
interest. The presentation of
information in computerised, i.e. digital form
rather than through traditional media, i.e. print form is of vital
importance in the attainment of right information at the right time without any
delay or inaccuracy.
TGNA and the Digitilisation Process
The introduction of digital technology via internet to the Turkish
Parliament in 1996 has led to varying effects on the prevailing popular
perceptions of the parliament as well as the way it is functioning. Will the use
of digital technology by the Turkish Parliament bring it closer to the people or
will it serve to its further alienation? Given that the participation of
citizens in the political decision-making process is a key factor for a
successful and efffective functioning of any democratic system alongside with
the freedom and equality of access to the democratic process, this question is
particularly important for a country like Turkey which has a long but fragile
democratic tradition. Given the
fact that the rate of access to internet by the general public is not so
low,
the digitisation of parliamentary information may lead to overcome “the
information gap” between the parliament and the citizenry on the one hand, and
to further deepening of “the democracy gap” among the wealthy and educated
and the poor and variously illiterate, on the other. This is because the
democratizing impact of digitization is closely kneated with the presence of
literate and technically informed population.
Digitilisation vs. Democratisation: “a situational condition”
In this context, the relevant question to be tested on empirical ground is
the following: Does the use of digital information enhance and contribute to the
consolidation of participatory democracy or not? To begin with,
the use of digital information technologies are not inherently
democratising or limiting. It has its prons and cons. Therefore, “the issue of
ICTs and parliaments concerns the manner in which it is used and managed
by institutions in conducting their
business and whether the manner in which such technology is used to complement
the objectives, values, principles and needs of parliament. The challenge for
parliament can be said to lie in how it utilises and manages these technologies
in support of its democratic values and principles.”
In other words, the expedient instrumentality of ICTs
may considerably further the democratisation process. In this context,
the fact that the neutrality of
technology is a myth becomes crystal clear. Because, the dynamics of the
consolidation of democracy are closely interrelated with the media
infrastructure the prominent of which being
the digital media.
Digital Mode of Presentation
In terms of the digitilisation of information
another crucial point is the inevitable change that will occur in the mode of
the presentation of information and the way we deal with the issues concerned.
The question is: how does a digitilised information environment affect
parliamentary deliberation and decision-making process? The adoption of the
digital mind, i.e. new ways of information presentation by the professionals
responsible for serving the information needs of parliaments, the prominents of
them being librarians and information analysts, may have a strong influence on
the extent, adequacy, accuracy and speed of delivering the information service.
The on-line availability of legal documents and information do not mean, however,
that this accessibility will make them understandable for all because the
existence of the special jargon will continue but the openness and access in
that terms would assume a new way:
The
parliament is an infrastructure that organises resources to support the work of
Members of Parliament. One side of that organisation concerns itself with
content: the creation, edition, storage and dissemination of documents. Another
deals with the process of parliamentary activity: organising and coordinating
meeting. In the next couple of years both of these aspects wil be supported by
information systems. With the easier availability of ICT the infrastructure will
move from organisations to individuals. Processing power, storage, servers,
internet capabilities, but also software that searches and retrieves information,
coordinates activities between teams of people will be available in such a
standardized way that its use will be ubiquitous: the means of production and
organisation will be distributed. It will become easier for individual Members
of Parliament to have his or her own network of people and groups and to
maintain it, coordinating research, focus groups, poll people throughout society,
and coordinate activities in larger groups of people than is possible today.
This makes Members of Parliament more independent from central infrastructure,
be that from the Parliament or the Party. They can also more easily organise
activities in their constituency.
Digitalisation
and the Library of TGNA
The provision of the efficient
and up-to-date follow-up of National Assembly proceedings and events is one of
the main tasks of the parliamentary library and information services. Since
1996, we have a parliamentary website. The intranet server is ready but will be
operative next year. Digital services are open primarily to deputies but also to
journalists, researchers, other governmental institutions and the general public.
The preparation of projects regarding digitilisation is
presently an ongoing process. In this process, the necessary software is
provided by the Information Service while the content management is held by the
departments concerned. Overall, the extent of digitilisation and its form is
fairly limited and document oriented, respecting the legislative and supervision
domains. Our website holds information on sessions, reports, laws, and other
proceedings and events. The document oriented system is based on the segregated
folders of textual documents. For example, one folder contains documents related
to one law, another one contains its
first draft to final vote. Still another one may embody other related reports
and proceedings. An important
feature of the digitally provided information in this context is that it is
amenable to key word search. No tape recordings of the floor or committee
debates are accessible yet.
The general landscape of Turkish parliamentarians does not much reflect
the impact of the digital revolution. In
their dealing with legislative works and the politics in general, they are least
involved in computers, internet, databases and so on. The number of MPs who
holds a PC is around 300. Each deputy may have its own private/personal computer
but they are provided with internet facilities. In the present parliament, each
deputy has been offered an e-mail addresses but only 236 out of 550 MPs accepted to
use the offficial e-mail addresses due to the fear of being overloaded by the
influx of junk mails or mails containing unruly phrases or simply not to be
involved with the addition of the digital workload. Basic information about each deputy as well as their contact
e-mail address can be found on the TGNA web site.
Turkish MPs are not so keen on the use of internet. Out of 545 MPs elected
to the parliament in the present legislative period (1999-...), only 99 of them
maintain a personal website and use internet in their contact with their
constituencies. They are not provided any official help in their web contents. 446 MPs are still
outside the space of digitized world, at least in terms of direct and active
involvement, and continue to use traditional means of public relations. The
distribution of MPs who maintain
web pages according to parties in the year 2000 was as follows: Democratic Left
Party (DLP): 38, Motherland Party (MP): 9, Virtue Party (VP): 19, Nationalist
Action Party (NAP): 18, and True Path Party:15.
In addition to the usual computerized information and access to all the
documents stored in the web site of TGNA, deputies have at their disposal
newspaper databases as part of a
quasi-intranet digital media, all provided by the Library.
The National Assembly website is used annually by around 50 to 55 thousand
people. For the time being, we are not able to identify the personal profiles of
these users in technical terms. The use rate of the website by the MPs is not
measured. Most information about the National Assembly, deputies, their work,
laws in progress, etc. is accessible to citizens on the TGNA web-site.
Information about all MPs with their e-mails and party groups could be reached.
Detailed history including recent developments of the National Assembly can also
be found. On-line versions of some books published
by the TGNA Publications for Culture and Art are presented on the web
page. Additional hyperlinks are available to other National Assemblies.
As I pointed out before, the web page of the the TGNA (http://www.tbmm.gov.tr)
has been on the internet since November 1996. The following are some of the
important databasis and information sources on the website prepared partially by
the Library of the TGNA:
*Parliamentary debates from 1996 onwards with full text availability.
Minutes documentation services has been underway since 1991.
The period since the XVIIth term
(1983) has been indexed in full text digital form but unavailable on the
internet yet. The periods of Consultative Assembly, National Security Council,
the Joint Sessions, National Security Committee, Constituent Assembly and
Representative Assembly are also in full text digital form, again unavailable on
the internet. The Library continues to index the pre-1983 period. The Floor
debates database is planned to comprise all the debates since 1877 in the long
term.
* The Bills (full
text);
* Recently
adopted laws (full text);
* Oral and
written questions (full text);
* Reports of the
Basic Committees (full text);
* Personal information
about members of Parliament , i.e. their short
biographies and e-mails;
- Newspaper Database (five newspapers between
1991-1997 and majority of the daily press except local dailies since 1998) (full
text). Newspaper Database is only available on the quasi- intranet of the
parliament (190.000 records for the period 1997, 400.000 records for the
period between 1997-2000). From the database including more than 590.000
newspaper items to which 200 are added daily a search can be made using
options such as author name, subject, newspaper name, genre of writing and
date interval .
*Documentation of periodical articles (Bibliographic) (indexed over
66.030 periodical articles up to 24 June
2002). Periodical documentation currently is underway on 290 selected
periodicals. When the necessary software is provided it will be possible to
access periodical articles as texts and to offer a “Selected Information
Publication” service to meet the needs of MPs as well.
- The Book Catalogue of the Library and Documentation
Center of the TGNA including some 253.967 books in Turkish and foreign
languages (February 2002);
- Approximately 5.656 rolls of microfilm of Turkish
newspapers and old script journals (February 2002);
- Information about governments of the Republican era;
- List of Prime Ministers;
- Information about Speakers (Biographies of some of
them);
- Information about political parties.
The users may also find information on the following topics in Turkish on
the same web-site: Historical Background of
TGNA, Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, Rules of Procedure of TGNA,
List and Composition of Governments, List of Political Parties in the Republican
Era, Biographies and Mail addresses of
Members of Parliament, Minutes of the Floor Debates, Daily Agenda of the
Parliament (Gündem), Parliamentary Committees, Organisation for Security
and Cooperation for Europe, National Palaces, Press Releases, Biographies of the
Presidents of the Republic of Turkey, Speakers of TGNA and Regulation on Library
and Documentation Center. The English version of the website is unfortunately
extremely poor and contains information on Historical Background of TGNA, the
Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, searchable by content or article number,
some publications by TGNA and National Palaces.
As a last point, it must be noted that the parliamentary website provides
no interactive or participatory channels for users. Hence, the flow of
information is mainly in one direction, i.e., from the National Assembly to the
citizens and non-citizens. There is an extremely limited in-built feedback
channels for citizens to influence the work
and decision-making process of the National Assembly. Thus, we may sat
that the digitilisation of
information has provided citizens with more in-depth information about the work
and actions of TGNA. However, the citizens’ opportunities to play a more
direct and active role in the decision-making process has changed little so far.
As a matter of fact,
the possible influence of the Internet on parliamentary politics will
depend on the dynamics of democracy that characterises the environment. British,
French, German or Dutch democracies all have different dynamics.
During their considerable history they built up their own participants,
style of dialogue and role of the press and media. In each nation
the developments ... will have a different effect. Then there is the
important distinction between older and younger democracies. In older
democracies the new systems will force a change in the existing dynamics
bringing their own problems with that. In younger democracies the infrastructure
of parliamentary information will
create and catalyse democratic processes and procedures throughout the nation.
It will structure the new democracy. So, judging the parliamentary future in
relation to new technology developments depends on the situation.
Conclusion
Control over information sources could be used in the closed societies as
a means of manipulation over the citizens. The presentation of information via
digital media, basically through internet, in this regard represents a
revolutionary move towards a political “glasnost” in transition to as well as
consolidation of democracy. Digital media could be used as an independent,
neutral and powerful medium for dissemination of information, hence widening the
possibility of public accountability of and political participation to the
democratic governance, a qualitative jump in democratic way of life . Moreover,
internet is an interactive digital medium through which two-way communication
can be established between the parliament and the citizens, a virtual
occurrence of direct democracy.
It must be noted, however, that the digital technology provides not only
the means for MPs to carry out their jobs better but also redefines
the way they perform their tasks.
Thanks to gathering and disseminating information through internet and intranet
facilities, MPs are provided with better quality service by the parliamentary
library staff in that their workload has been lessened.
Last but not the least, we cannot comprehend the
impact of digitalization in such pure categories as “good” or “bad” but
rather view it as “situational”. Digitalized information can stimulate and
support democratic processes. The Turkish case, though in the embriyonic phase
of digitilisation, may be said promising in this regard.
According to the
millennium estimations by Istanbul Technical University, there are
2.5 million PCs in Turkey. The number of internet users is very promising:
2, 000,000 people. Number of personal computers per 100 population is 4
while the number of internet
users per 100 population is 3. In
fact, the communication infrastructure of Turkey
is more developed than many European Uninon countries. See Türkiye
Bilişim Şurası, İletişim Altyapısı Raporu, 1 April 2002 at www.bilisimsurasi.org.tr.
Also see Baki Günay, “Gelecek Bilişimde,” Türkiye, 5 July
2000.According to the estimates, the rate of internet use per household
would reach to %15 in 2005, and to %50 in 2010. That is, in the next ten
years, half of the population
would be internet users. In this regard, the development of web pages
in Turkish would enhance the creation of a mass demand for internet use in
Turkey. See Şeref Oğuz, “Son Kullanıcı,” Milliyet,
7 July 1998. This state of affairs clearly reveals the importance of the
development of government policies attesting priority to the extension of
ICT infrastructure to the whole, or at least, to the majority of the
population in order to overcome the possible “digital divide”.
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