Politexting: Using Mobile Technology to Connect the Unconnected and
Expanding the Scope of Constituency Relations –
DejiOlaore
Abstract
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the face of the world, and its impact is manifest in every facet of our lives. The introduction of ICT into the democratic process, and the use of new technologies by politicians and public officials is no exception. Access to information is crucial to effective citizen participation in the democratic process. The shift in the technological innovations offers the political class, those seeking public office and elected representatives considerable scope to improve their communication strategy, and information management. Furthermore, the potential to improve communication and information flow between public officials and citizens has greatly increased.Many African legislatures struggle with constituent relations due to costs, lack of resources, or other priorities and several other challenges facing the legislators. Barkan, Mattes, Mozaffar and Smiddy (2010) observed that in African countries, both citizens and Parliamentarians place a much higher emphasis on representation and constituency service than on legislating and oversight. However, there are several challenges such as cost, access, time constraint, resources, and lack of human capacity among others that hinder legislators from performing their representation roles effectively. But the advent of ICT, particularly the use of (SMS) has increased representatives' contact with constituents by lowering information costs, provides real time contact with legislators, gives voice to the voiceless, thereby changing the representation role of legislators in Africa. SMS technology has been used by elected representatives in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia to communicate with their constituents. Using Nigeria as an important case study; SMS has changed the face of constituency relations both at the national legislature, and in State House of Assemblies. This essay shows how SMS technology has been utilized to increase citizens’ access to elected officials and significantly improvedelected representatives’ constituency outreach efforts.
- Introduction
In any democratic society, being informed, combined with the capacity of citizens to participate freely in the political process are both necessities and rights (Mulder, 1999). Kakadadse, Kakadadse, & Kouszmin, (2003) argued that democratic potential is the capacity of citizens to participate effectively and knowledgeably in socially constitutive processes. Democracy and good governance require citizen’s participation. Similarly, access to information is vital for transparency, accountability and inclusiveness, yet the voices of the poor, women and minorities often times go unheard, especially in developing democracies. The shift in the technological innovations offer elected representatives, and the political class considerable scope to improve communication and information management between them and the people (Williamson, 2009).
One of the crucial preconditions for any successful and effective democratic system of government is citizens’ participation in the political process. Critical to participation are the twin values of freedom and equality of access to the democratic process and institutions (Lyons & Lyons, 1999). There are three branches of government in a democratic society, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Balkan (2008) observes that legislatures are the institutional mechanism through which societies make representative governance real on a day-today basis. He explains that the legislature is the institutional arena in which competing interests articulate and seek to advance various objectives in the policy making process. One of the key functions of legislators is representation. Members of a parliament or legislature are the representatives of the people.
As representatives, they are responsible for establishing a linkage between themselves and their constituents. This linkage will allow for a two-way dialogue and exchange of thoughts and ideas betweenrepresentatives and the people they represent. Democratic governance is therefore strengthened when citizens have the will and the ability to engage meaningfully in the policy/decision making process through easier and more frequent communication with their elected representatives (Fitch & Goldschmidt, 2005; Coleman, Taylor, & Van De Donk, 1999; and Lyons & Lyons, 1999).
In addition, effective communications between Representatives and their constituents contributes to avoiding disconnect between voters and the Representatives. One of the important roles of legislators is to articulate the views of their constituents and serve as liaison between government and citizens. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (1997), the very notion of representative democracy assumes that public participation in the decision-making process improves the quality of decision-making. Kurtz (1997) further argues that effective communication between legislators and constituents and between the institution and the general public can help to build democratic traditions and institutions. Therefore, placing emphasis on the linkage function of representatives educates both citizens and legislators about their roles in a representative democracy.
In their report on Online Town Hall Meetings Exploring Democracy in the 21st Century,
Lazer, Neblo, Esterling, & Goldschmidt (2009) recommend that in order to “enable Members of Congress to balance constituent input and their own policy judgments and to effectively communicate and gain support for their policy decisions, they must use what is called a Madisonian or “republican” feedback model” (p. 3). Lazer et al (2009) explained that a Madisonian model is a cycle of deliberation that allows citizens to cooperatively formulate and communicate their interests to their Senators and Representatives. Legislators in turn will debate and craft legislations to advance those interests and then persuade constituents of their actions in order to generate popular support for them, this process repeat itself in a cycle of feedback.
The Madisonian Feedback Cycle copied from CMF report on Online Town Hall Meetings
The Madisonian cycle underscores the importance of effective communication between legislators and their constituents, this can be achieved through a wide range of methods of communication such as face to face meetings, town hall meetings, e-mail, telephone calls, text messaging, letters, newsletters, social media and others.
Regular dialogues and feedback keep citizens and elected officials in close contacts. The value of such engagements combined with new technologies have the capacity to enlarge the scope of political dialogue, and serve as educational process that brings issues into the public focus and allows them to be defined (Kakabadse, KakadadseKouzmin 2003). Coleman, Taylor & Van De Donk (1999) argued that the stronger, and clearer the flows of information between citizens and their representatives, the better is the health of democratic system. In this new information age, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) were one of the elements heralded as capable of assisting elected representatives and public officials in reconnecting with the public (Lusoli, Ward, & Gibson, 2006). Based on its transformative power in business, commerce, education, health and other sectors, it is therefore important to investigate how ICTs are being used by elected representatives in performing their legislative functions, particularly their representation role.
ICT tools have been credited with empowering people to take active role in political decision making process including open debates that are essential to sustain democracy and pluralist society. Politically, the ICT revolution has created new avenues for democratic participation through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Online Town Hall meetings and text messaging(SMS). Text messaging has also been used for other purposes such as election monitoring, banking, economic transactions and health.The purpose of this essay is to examine the use of technology of politexting for constituent relations by elected officials, specifically to see if it increases the scope of contact, and improve accountability to voters. This essay draws upon a three year (2010-2013) field research in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The result of the field study shows that elected representatives have been using politexting technology (SMS) to communicate effectively with their constituents, engage citizens in political dialogues and thereby increasing citizen’s access to information and political debates.
Therefore, the overarching goal of this essay is to examine the impact of new information and communication technology (ICT), especially the ICT tools used by elected representatives in emerging democracies (with particular focus on Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia) in communicating with their constituents.I utilized interpretive methodology to examine comparative communicative experiences of elected representatives in Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The study revealed that mobile technologies have become ubiquitous, and potent political communication tool by elected representatives in these emerging democracies with focus on the use of text messaging, a phenomenon described in this study as Politexting also known as short messaging system (SMS) – the use of text messaging in political communication.
The scope of this research was limited to a one-way communication from elected representatives to the constituents. This aspect of one-way communication also includes interpersonal communication with each constituent and the communication with organized groups, communities or associations. The decision to limit the scope of this study to representative-constituent one-way communication system was based on limited resources and the amount of time required to undertake such a study. Researching a two-way communication between representative and constituents in these countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria) will involve not only a considerable amount of time, but also substantial resources to travel to different constituencies throughout the selected countries. I also found conducting interviews with the elected representatives very challenging, but at the same time an interesting endeavor in an attempt to understand the concept of constituency relations from legislators’ perspectives.
Methodologically, this study focused on comparative communicative experiences of elected representatives in Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone, using information technology in communicating with their constituents with great emphasis on Nigeria. Nigeria is an important case because SMS has changed constituency relations both in the national legislature, and in state legislatures. The SMS technology has provided a significant opportunity for elected representatives to reach their constituents and also be reached by the constituents. In all, 75 participants (MPs and legislative staff) took part in the study. Nigeria has the largest number of participants with 62, followed by Sierra Leone 8 participants, and Liberia with 5 participants.
- ICT and Democracy
The importance of technology in political communication has stimulated interesting discussions among scholars in response to alleged crisis of representation due to public disenchantment towards democratic institutions and practices. Representative institutions varied because of political culture, tradition, and history. This makes it difficult to assess the broad-spectrum effects of technological advancement on political institutions. In addition, the adoption and application of technologies differ from one political culture to another. While others perceived new technologies as disruptive to traditional practices; some viewed it as a means to enhance productivity, efficiency and social accountability.
Coleman and Spiller (2003)observed that representative bodies have come under increasing pressure to either connect more directly with citizens or risk becoming marginalized. Lusoli, Ward, and Gibson (2006) reported that it has increasingly become commonplace to talk of crisis in parliamentary representation in the United Kingdom as a result of an increasing gulf between the Parliament, its members, and the British public. “Citizens know less about MPs and the Parliament than was the case in the past. Only 42% of the public can correctly name their MP, a 10% decrease from early 1990s” (Lusoli, Ward, & Gibson, 2005, p. 26).
Similarly, The Hansard Society, a leading independent, non-partisan political research and education charity based in the United Kingdom in its briefing at the House of Lords in December 2008, on Enhancing Parliament’s Ability to Communicate with Members of the Public highlighted the increasing gap between the British Members of Parliament (MPs), and the public. The group (Hansard Society) reported that just 32% of the people agree that they have a good understanding of the way Parliament works and only 19% of the people surveyed agree that Parliament is working for them. These statistics show increasing citizens’ disengagement or lack of trust for the Parliament and/or the parliamentarians.Many studies (Coleman, Taylor, & Van De Donk, 1999; Leston-Bandeira, 2007; Lyons & Lyons, 1999; Mulder, 1999; and Williamson, 2009) recognized that digital technologies may provide a way of making representatives more accessible to the public. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has had an important and growing impact on the work of elected representatives. In a study on Communicating with Congress, Fitch & Goldschmidt (2005) concluded that members of Congress have more opportunity to interact easily with many people as a result of the new technologies. Similarly, Hysom (2008) noted that with the advent of the new technologies, the public has the capability to be almost as informed as Members and staff about topical issues in the Congress. “Now, it is not only the Member educating and updating the constituent, but the constituent is bringing new information to the Member as well” (Hysom, 2008, p. 39).
Transformative Impact of ICT in Representative Democracy
In their study of how the Scottish Parliament has been transformed with the adoption of the new technology, Smith & Gray (1999) stated that the Scottish Parliament represents an unparalleled democratic innovation in governance with the adoption, and incorporation of Information and Communication Technology into its legislative business. They argued that Scottish Parliament represents an opportunity for democratic renewal which cannot be underestimated, and the role of technology in supporting the renewal was well articulated and implemented. Information Communication and Technology (ICTs) were credited with transformative potentials that not only support the operations of the parliament in terms of representative democracy, but it also shifts the nexus of political engagement away from pure representative democracy towards actual participative engagement in the political process.
Lusoli, Ward, & Gibson, (2006), identified Information Communication Technology (ICTs) as one of the elements capable of assisting the parliament in reconnecting with the public. In a study of United Kingdom (UK) Parliamentarians and the use of the Internet to reconnect with thepublic, it was discovered that the desire of the UK Members of Parliament, and the House of Commons (HoC) to connect with the public via electronic means is palpable. The study found that among the growing range of channels available to citizens to contact their elected representatives, telephone is reportedly the medium of choice. Lusoli et al concluded that new technologies have potentials to attract new citizens and deepen people’s engagement with the parliament.
Mobile technology, (especially text messaging) is another new ICT tool credited with changing the political communication’s landscape. According to a Pew Research Center study (2010), cell phones have become an essential communication tool for American adults. The Pew study stated that 82% of American adults say they have cell phones, and 71% of them use text messaging, and 26% of Americans used their cell phones to connect to the 2010 mid-term elections. Dale and Strauss, (2007) in their study on text messaging as a youth mobilization tool conducted during November 2006 United State elections, found out that text messaging is a powerful tool to reach new voters and drive them to the polls. The result of the study indicated that text message reminders to new voters increased an individual’s likelihood of voting by 3.2%, a strong margin that could change a close election.
Graff (2008) observed that text messaging has becomes the tool of expression for those dissatisfied with the political status quo around the world. For instance, in 2001, protesters organized themselves through text messages to overthrow President Joseph Estrada of Philippines. Graff (2008) also indicated that text messages helped toppled Jose Maria Aznar’e government in Spain, after the Madrid train bombings in 2004. Similarly, Celdran (2002) argued that text messaging has altered the traditional rules of political communication and mobilization with far-reaching implications for the nature of citizenship in an age characterized by rapid innovations in information technology. Celdran (2002) further explained that the most impressive characteristics of text messaging are network connectivity, speed, cost-effectiveness, mobility and confidentiality. He submitted that when these same characteristics are in tandem with external social forces, text messaging becomes a potential tool for mediating political information and accelerating the process of political change as witnessed in Philippines.
The growing influence of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), in particular mobile phone technology, on many aspects of life is significant, and its remarkable impact on politics and political communications is manifest around the world. According to the Pew Center study (2010) “mobile connectivity has become a growing feature in all kinds of communication and information exchanges-including politics- and mobile connectivity is becoming a regular feature of political campaigns” (p. 3).
The use of text messaging was not limited to political campaigns and citizens’ mobilizations. Nonpartisan election monitoring organizations in countries like Albania (2007), Bahrain (2006), Indonesia (2005), Montenegro (2006), Sierra Leone (2007), Ghana (2008), Nigeria (2011), Zambia (2011) and Kenya (2013) have also adopted SMS as a communication tool to monitor general elections. Schuler (2008) observed that “the speed of communication and processing, the flexibility, and the coverage SMS can provide gives monitoring organizations a powerful tool for organizing volunteers and responding instantly to an evolving election environment. When combined with a reporting methodology that utilizes a representatives sample of polling stations, SMS reporting contributes to a deep understanding of how elections are conducted across a country and whether the results reflect the will of the people” (p. 154). Text messaging is becoming a tactical communication and mobilization tool. Also in Africa, text messaging is a breakthrough communication tool that cut across business, politics and social interactions using mobile technology. Bratton (2013) observed that while relatively few Africans use computers – even in technologically advanced countries like South Africa and Kenya, almost everyone uses a cell phone.