The success of e-participation. Learning lessons from Decide Madrid and We asked, You said, We did in Scotland

Electronic participation (e-participation) has grown across the world in recent decades and many governments offer a range of opportunities for e-participation. However, there is a lack of comparative analyses of successful initiatives, which can be useful in supporting subsequent adopters. This paper identifies the best practices and areas for improvement of Decide Madrid and We asked, You said, We did in Scotland, whose software has been widely adopted by hundreds of institutions worldwide. Key common enablers include political leadership and senior management support, top-down approach, high levels of internal and external collaboration, embeddedness in the formal policy-making processes and careful consideration of design features. Most of these factors are related to processes, organizational or managerial dimensions, rather than being linked to the institutional context or ICT. Areas for improvement relate to the way the initiatives provide feedback, allow discussion and flexibility on policy options, incorporate possibilities for offline participation, and involve a wider range of stakeholders. An important contribution is the identification of factors contributing to the robustness and continuity of e-participation initiatives, combining the flexibility of collaborative network governance and the stability of public bureaucracy