Promotion of influence and design features of e-petitions : A quantitative study of relationships and digitalization

Abstract: E-democracy may promote influence in political processes. A new e-democratic tool in Sweden is the e-petition. This thesis studies to what extent the e-petition implementations by Swedish municipalities promote citizen influence in political processes and the relationship between variations in citizen influence and e-petition design features. Considering the dynamic nature of digital artefacts and characteristics of digital innovation the design could be diverse, which could impact influence. A quantitative study was conducted through e-mail surveys and review of municipal websites, ranked and compared in two influence groups. This study revealed that influence varied to a high extent, indicating three design features impacting influence. The e-petition promoted influence and a relationship between the influence and design features existed. Future research should investigate the digitalization of the e-petition and characteristics of digital innovation to understand the social and institutional contexts better. If not understood, the consequences may be that organizations are unable to adapt to new circumstances.