Sustainable e-parliaments

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to elucidate that parliaments are seeking legitimacy as accountable and sustainable democratic institutions by managing new technologies and knowledge to design an e-parliament where stakeholders use information and communication technologies to perform more effectively their core functions of lawmaking, representation, and oversight. Design/methodology/approach – Parliaments under increasing pressure to revisit their concept of sustainability may select different approach to policymaking and lawmaking connecting citizens to knowledge and information in the policy process. Organizations seeking greater legitimacy than better performance tend to conform to the expectations of the key stakeholders. Managing and sharing knowledge and information can help to face uncertainty and environmental complexity as the fundamental problem for organizations such as parliaments This study is based on archival and qualitative data drawn by literature review about the use of knowledge management systems and internet technologies of information and communication within parliamentary institutions. Originality/value – Technology has made possible greater access to the policy process enhancing quality of democratic governance if citizens are better informed and included in decision making processes. ICTs offer different scenarios to representative democracy leading parliamentary institutions to sustain public trust to survive in their current forms to cope with distrust and disengagement of people feeling unheard by politicians. Practical implications – Parliaments embracing new technologies coherently with international standards and best practices may select different choices in order to use new technologies, managing knowledge and information in order to develop their internal workings engaging citizens in the public policy process. Keywords – e-parliament, social sustainability, knowledge and information management. Paper type – Academic research paper