Author(s):
Lima, Débora Reis Leal de ; Nogueira, Sónia P. ; Carvalho, Hilda Alberton de
Date: 2021
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/83814
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Public administration; Governance; Institucional comunication; Digital democracy; Governação; Comunicação institucional; Democracia digitial; Administração pública; Ciências Sociais::Ciências Políticas
Description
Democratic accountability is considered one of the most important mechanisms of legitimacy in Democratic States of Law, for guaranteeing forms of control and accountability uninterrupted by those elected by the people. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which the information displayed on the electronic portals of local Portuguese deliberative bodies contributes to the exercise of democratic accountability. Using mixed methods, with the first qualitative and second quantitative phase, and with content analysis techniques this study presents an index capable of measuring the level of democratic accountability in the electronic portals of the local Portuguese deliberative bodies, reveals that although there is accountability, there is a significant absence of democratic mechanisms in the implementation of these virtual environments.