University of Twente Student Theses
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Platform Design and Participation Gaps in Collaborative Governance : A Theory Driven Comparative Case-Study of Decidim Barcelona and Decide Madrid
Zaunick, Joshua Nnamdi (2025) Platform Design and Participation Gaps in Collaborative Governance : A Theory Driven Comparative Case-Study of Decidim Barcelona and Decide Madrid.
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| Abstract: | Digital participation platforms promise to democratize policymaking yet may replicate offline inequalities. This thesis examines how concrete design choices widen or narrow participation gap, guided by collaborative-governance theory, digital-governance theory and digital-divide theory. It employs a comparative case study of Decide Madrid and Decidim Barcelona, with data being collected using a literature review, complemented by semi-structured expert interviews and the analysis of this data accomplished by utilizing a cross-case synthesis. The analysis shows that platform design significantly affects participation: offline facilitation, institutional coordination, continuous incentives, dialogic transparency systematically shrink motivational and usage gaps, whereas rigid process pipelines that lack visible institutional followthrough tend to widen skills and usage gaps for already disadvantaged groups. Thus, the degree to which digital collaborative-governance tools reduce or reproduce inequalities depends less on the mere adoption of new technology than on how responsively that technology is embedded in existing civic and administrative practices. The thesis offers a new theory-driven template for evaluating civic-tech platforms and identifies practical levers: hybrid outreach, adaptive thresholds, continuous transparency, through which municipalities can make digital collaboration more inclusive. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 85 business administration, organizational science, 88 social and public administration, 89 political science |
| Programme: | Management Society and Technology BSc (56654) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/107735 |
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