County takes e-Democracy Seriously with Online Game

Warwickshire County Council, in the heart of England, has devised a game to encourage residents to choose how they want their annual local authority funding allocated. Harnessing the full power of the Web for interaction and entertainment, the game has a competitive element but also feeds back the results to the council.

The council says the game 'will enable you to suggest the council tax level for 2004/2005 and to also suggest where any new money should be spent. We will be gathering the various proposals that are made through this game and will be feeding a summary of the results back to elected members who will take this information into consideration as they deliberate the actual budget for 2004/2005....Hopefully you will find it a fun and interactive experience as well as informative.'

Feedback to members will be totally anonymous so that nothing can be attributed to an individual.

The web game has two versions: a very short approach to the setting of the council tax or a more involved longer game that looks at some of the key pressures facing the Council next year.

Clicking on a button on the website transfers players to a virtual town, where there are seven service areas to be visited: Education, Social Services, Libraries, Fire & Rescue, Roads & Transport, Environment & Regeneration, Other Services.

Players see grey buildings when the game starts and are transported around the virtual town in a car. At each service area, conventional survey materials such as multiple choice questions await the players, but the final results are a lot more interesting than just filling in a questionnaire. Your score is presented at the virtual Town Hall.

Associated Link: Warwickshire County Council's Budget Setting Game

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