Solving Ethical Dilemmas in Governance Innovation: A Case of Digital Civic Participation in Latvia

In a network society characterized by highly digitized spheres of life, including governance and politics, ethical dilemmas arise for both democratic society actors and representative democracy itself. This chapter addresses a set of dilemmas concerning the functionality and meaningfulness of digital civic participation, alongside the overarching dilemma of maintaining and strengthening representative democracy amidst the innovative and, hence, inherently disruptive nature of the network society. Traditional forms of civic participation, such as town hall meetings, are increasingly viewed as harmful, while digital participation is characterized as thin or low in deliberation and quality of such participation (Nabatchi and Leighninger, Public participation for 21st century democracy. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2015). Politicians, operating within informational politics, marginalize civic society in policymaking processes by keeping it “in the back seat” (Castells, The power of identity. Second edition with a new preface. In: Volume II: the information age: economy, society, and culture (Information age series). Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 2010, 416), creating a breeding ground for social and civic discontent, which poses a threat to democracy. Digital civic mobilization tends to surge during crises but recedes afterward (Khutkyy, E-participation waves: a reflection on the baltic and the Eastern European cases. In: Virkar S et al (eds) Proceedings of ongoing research, practitioners, posters, workshops, and projects of the international conference EGOV-CeDEM-ePart 2019, IFIP, San Benedetto Del Tronto, pp 197–203, 2019), leaving the public skeptical about the meaningfulness of such engagement. This chapter examines the case of digital civic participation in Latvia, focusing on the evolution of the NGO MyVoice since 2010 and the institutionalization of this system in legislation regarding collective submissions in 2012. With 76 implemented national legislative changes, including a constitutional amendment, Latvia’s digital civic participation emerges as a globally significant example of efficient civic engagement. The study identifies systemic aspects of constructive and responsible digital civic participation. It highlights examples of mutually beneficial synergies among stakeholders, including organized civic society, individual citizens, legislators, political parties, government agencies, expert communities, and the media. In Latvia, this has fostered an ecosystem of trust, centered on the initial civic entrepreneurs of MyVoice, which has facilitated the emergence of various policy entrepreneurs and effectively addressed a range of dilemmas highlighted in previous research.