Title: Some thoughts on weighting in participatory decision making and e-democracy

Authors: Jutta Geldermann, Jens Ludwig

Addresses: French-German Institute for Environmental Research (DFIU/IFARE), University of Karlsruhe (TH), Hertzstr. 16, 76187 Karlsruhe, Germany. ' French-German Institute for Environmental Research (DFIU/IFARE), University of Karlsruhe (TH), Hertzstr. 16, 76187 Karlsruhe, Germany

Abstract: Thoughts about possible links between multicriteria decision making and e-democracy are proposed for discussion in this paper. After giving some applications for decision-making tools in e-participation, the idea to use a PROMETHEE tool for weighting votes in public decisions is analysed using an example of urban planning and put forth for discussion. Whereas this idea might seem undemocratic compared to traditional equal consideration, it highlights some drawbacks of local referenda and voting using the internet.

Keywords: voting; e-democracy; local referenda; PROMETHEE; vote weighting; electronic democracy; multicriteria decision making; MCDM; decision making; urban planning; online voting; e-voting.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPM.2007.014536

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2007 Vol.7 No.2, pp.178 - 189

Published online: 15 Jul 2007 *

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