e-Parliament - Global

Still in development, the e-Parliament uses the Internet to create a kind of virtual, informal democratic world institution. Among parliamentarians, participation is limited to legislators from democratic countries. These legislators are linked together through the e-Parliament site, which may be accessed in English, Spanish, French, and German. This site will feature access to a voting system and committee structure comparable to that of a national parliament. The idea is to create a global problem-solving process that happens alongside intergovernmental talks and that is ideally transparent, accountable, inclusive, and flexible. Means of communication will include sharing information through the e-Parliament search engine, discussing issues of common interest through online "InterGroups", and creating up to 20 Action Networks on major global issues.

To explain the process in more detail, each Action Network will begin with a drafting and consultation process, engaging stakeholders around the world to develop norms, policy proposals, and model legislation on its issue. The proposals will be put to an online poll. Legislators will be able to vote from their own offices in their own countries, simply by clicking "yes" or "no" on their screens. The votes of every member will be recorded on the website. If approved by the e-Parliament, the Action Networks will then work to get those norms and proposals implemented through national parliaments and governments. The first such Action Network, on Climate and Energy, was initiated by Chairman of the Environment Committee of the German Bundestag. Legislators are encouraged to look at, and comment on, the draft policy paper on conserving energy; their comments will appear on the website to foster transparency and further debate.

In addition to democratic legislators, oranisations, journalists, and individual citizens are welcome to participate from any country and any political system. After paying a membership fee (which varies according to the annual revenue of that group), organisations can become members of the e-Parliament Forum, which enables them to participate in Action Networks on issues of interest to them. They can also share information with legislators through the e-Parliament search engine, have occasional access to the e-Parliament database, and respond to questions from legislators and journalists. In the works is a Petitions Noticeboard where any Forum member can propose an issue or proposal for the e-Parliament's agenda. Once a substantial number of citizens have signed a petition, the issue will automatically go on the agenda of the relevant e-Parliament Committee. Journalists are encouraged to pose questions by email to Forum members or parliament members. Finally, citizens may become a Friend of the e-Parliament for an annual fee.

Political Development.

The e-Parliament, a non-profit organisation in both the United Kingdom and the United States, has been created to address two problems: a global democracy gap and a problem-solving gap. The former problem, organisers say, relates to the fact that more and more key decisions are made at the international level, whether in global organisations or at transnational corporations. As a result, they say, elected representatives in national or regional parliaments are being sidelined and citizens' ability to influence decisions reduced. To them, this contributes to the trend of conflicts being resolved not through elections but, rather, through war. Second, organisers say that our global institutions and intergovernmental negotiations are simply too slow and too easily blocked to keep up with global problems. Furthermore, they say that world institutions have too few resources and too little democratic legitimacy. The poor, who suffer most from these failures, have only a weak voice in decisions that affect them.