Researching the democratic impact of open government data: A systematic literature review

Erna H.J.M. Ruijer*, Evelijn Martinius

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This systematic literature review examines the impact of open government data on democratic societies. The paper uses a multidimensional operationalization of democracy, concentrating on monitorial, deliberative and participatory processes. It presents expected and found impact of open government data on democratic processes, an overview of the indicators used to measure impact and challenges of realizing impact. The results show that so far limited empirical studies have been conducted regarding the impact of open data on democratic processes. Furthermore, the empirical studies show mixed results and use a broad variety of indicators to measure the impact of OGD. Challenges identified are related to data skills, representation and diversity. More research is necessary especially regarding the impact of open data on deliberative processes and the impact of open data for citizens.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)233-250
Number of pages18
JournalInformation Polity
Volume22
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2017

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 645860. The authors would like to thank their ROUTE-TO-PA colleagues in particular professor Albert Meijer, for their valuable contributions.

FundersFunder number
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme645860

    Keywords

    • democracy
    • impact
    • open government
    • Open government data
    • transparency

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Researching the democratic impact of open government data: A systematic literature review'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this