| Summary: | Electronic participation (e-participation) is a research domain that focuses on the
development of information and communication technology (ICT) to support
participation in a nation‟s governance processes. One of the problems in
implementing this process in Malaysia is the lack of participation from its citizens in
providing inputs to be used in the nation‟s public policy formulation processes. In
addition, there is a lack of research on e-participation and framework that supports the
public policy formulation. Therefore, in this study, the researcher attempts to look at
how the public can involve and play their part in the process of drafting the nation‟s
public policies by utilizing the information technology mechanism. The main
objective of this study is to develop a framework for the implementation of e�participation in the public policy formulation processes. To achieve this objective, the
public‟s levels of perception and satisfaction with the current Government‟s e�participation initiatives in the public policy formulation and implementation process
are identified. Questionnaires, interviews, observations, and analysis of relevant
documents were the methods used in this study. Actor Network Theory (ANT) from
the socio-technological perspective was applied in this study in order to analyze the
development of the e-participation framework. The proposed e-participation
framework was then assessed using the Delphi Method to seek the consensus from the
experts appointed. As a result, the e-participation framework for public participation
in Malaysia was successfully developed. This e-participation framework enables
people to jointly contribute towards the formulation of public policy. From the
theoretical perspective, the framework implies that ANT provides a strong foundation
for policy making process of aligning the heterogeneous nature of public
participation. In practice, the ICT tools for public participation will hopefully enable a
wider participation in contributing to a democratic practice.
Keywords: Citizen participation, Electronic participation, Public policy, Actor
Network Theory (ANT), Delphi Method
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