José Carlos Vaz. vaz@usp.br
University of Sao Paulo
Fernanda Campagnucci. f.campagnucci@uni-muenster.de
University of Münster
In the context of the growing centrality of data in urban governance, the aim of this article is to present a characterisation of the political features offered by online political participation processes and the technologies used to enable them. We intend to obtain the basic elements for the construction of a detailed analytical model that will provide evidence for future research on the characteristics and impacts of transformations based on the intensive use of big data, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and the IoT.Based on exploratory research, a preliminary taxonomy has been created to enable descriptions and comparisons between online participation initiatives in cities. This article presents the variables of this taxonomy, which make it possible to characterise the initiatives in terms of the types of participatory processes carried out and the main technologies used to make them possible. These variables were studied in a heterogeneous group of twelve Latin American and European cities, selected by a combination of criteria related to size, history of technology use and history of political participation. In addition to this characterisation, the study has also made it possible to identify other categories of variables that can be used in the construction of an analytical model that will allow in-depth analysis and comparison of initiatives. Among the possibilities for comparative analysis that can be identified as opportune are: the state capacities demanded by the initiatives and their impact on public policies, on the production of technologies for participation and on democracy.