39 research outputs found
Prime Minister’s Questions needs to change to improve Parliament’s reputation with the public
No full textPrime Ministers appear weekly in the House of Commons to answer questions from the Leader of the Opposition and other MPs. The format and tone of Prime Minister’s Questions has been criticised, however, for showcasing a confrontational style of politics. In this post Beccy Allen shares findings from Hansard Society research into the public’s views of PMQs
Paradox of proximity – trust and provenance within the context of social networks and policy
No full textWith social networks evolving and integrating within traditional policy domains, the question arises - do we have in our hands a tool for genuine participation, transparency and dialogue, or are the concerns surrounding privacy, trust, provenance and localization still haunting and shaping the arena? In this paper, we discuss this very question via the illustrative lens of the WeGov Project. We start by providing a critical rethinking of e-governance within the context of social media. We then move onto an in depth look at the WeGov project, its toolkit, end-user engagement strategies and methodologies. Finally we draw from our findings some critical insights into the impacts on and implications of such technologies for the policy-making environment. We conclude with a set of recommendations for future work in this area as well as a summary of key lessons learnt within this innovative initiativ
Creative encounters beyond the door: supporting children and families through Half Moon Theatre's Early Years Creative Play programme
No full textThis article presents the work of Beccy Allen, Head of Creative Learning at Half Moon Theatre, and her creative practitioners, Madeleine Graham and Daniel Mariño, on their extensive Early Years Creative Play (EYCP) programme for families and their children. The programme has been running since 2018, in children’s centres and nursery schools across the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where families are invited to join, and in community spaces where local families are able to drop in. Breaking the tradition of relying on academic researchers to measure the impact of their programme, Beccy and her team engage with their own evaluation processes to measure the creative encounters that parent and child receive through the EYCP programme. As an outsider looking in, I present in this short article their work so that one can advocate for the continuation of such vital resources for children’s creative cultural and artistic lives
Online Forums vs. Social Networks: Two Case Studies to Support eGovernment with Topic Opinion Analysis
No full textPart 5: Social Media and Social Network AnalysisInternational audienceThis paper suggests how eGovernment and public services can apply “topic-opinion” analysis (developed in the EC IST FP7 WeGov project) on citizens’ opinions on the Internet. In many cases, discussion tracks on the Internet become quite long and complex. Stakeholders are often interested in gaining a quick overview of such a discussion, including understanding its thematic aspects, identifying key arguments and key users. The topic opinion analysis that is part of the WeGov toolbox aims to provide appropriate summarization techniques by identifying latent themes of discussion (topics), most relevant contributions and arguments for each topic, as well as identifying the most active users that influenced a certain aspect of discussion. In this paper we focus on online forums and social networks as digital places where users discuss potential political issues. Therefore we setup two different case studies to validate the accuracy and usefulness of analysis results of the topic opinion analysis
