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E-petitions, or electronic petitions, are a relatively new form of political engagement that allow individuals to voice their opinions and concerns directly to their government. This case study examines the use of e-petitions in a Swedish municipality, with a focus on the experiences of both petitioners and policy makers. Through interviews with local officials, participants, and a review of relevant documents, this study explores the motivations behind the adoption of e-petitions, the processes by which they are implemented and managed, and the outcomes that have resulted from their use. Through a review of the literature and case studies, this essay explores the potential of e-petitions to facilitate meaningful dialogue between citizens and policy makers, as well as the challenges that must be addressed in order for them to achieve their full potential. The findings of this study suggest that e-petitions have had a positive impact on the municipality's democratic processes, providing a convenient and accessible way for citizens to engage with their government and have their voices heard. Overall, this case study offers valuable insights into the potential of e-petitions to facilitate citizen participation in local democracy.

This thesis examines democratic innovations in Hungary, a country governed by Fidesz, an illiberal and populist party since 2010. Democratic innovations aim to engage citizens in the political decision-making process. The thesis analyses and compares two democratic innovations: the National Consultation, first organised by Fidesz in 2005, and the Citizens’ Assembly, first organised by the liberal opposition in Budapest in 2020. The aim of this thesis is to examine how the quality of democratic innovations is influenced by their organizers and the increasingly authoritarian political context of Hungary. Previous research has analysed both innovations in depth but has not systematically compared the two processes.  This thesis primarily uses official reports on both innovations, supplemented by secondary data from semi-structured elite interviews conducted with Hungarian politicians in 2020. The study's results indicate that the quality of the democratic innovations analysed is influenced by the ideology and broader political goals of the organisers, institutionalisation, and the dynamics of the illiberal state apparatus. It is noteworthy that the National Consultation lost its democratic and deliberative character after Fidesz came to power in 2010. Although the quality of the Citizens' Assembly organized by the opposition parties was affected to a lower extent by the seemingly unfavourable political context, the National Consultation and the politics of Fidesz have also negatively affected other practices of the opposition.

I Malmö stads översiktsplan fastslås en ambition om att i högre grad involvera medborgare i planeringen för att göra staden mer jämlik och socialt hållbar, samtidigt som planeringen kan bli mer effektiv när planer kan förankras genom att involvera medborgare i ett tidigt skede. Men för att involvera medborgare i planeringen, i ett tidigt stadie, krävs det att det görs ansatser som går utöver de lagliga krav som Plan- och Bygglagen ställer på planförfarandet om medborgerligt demokratiskt inflytande. Denna ansats benämner Malmö stad som fördjupad delaktighet. Men vad som ingår i de ansatser som går utöver lagens krav och möjligheterna för hur medborgare kan påverka planeringen, kan variera från en planprocess till en annan. Hur Malmö stad arbetar med att involvera medborgare med metoder som går utöver lagens krav ämnar denna studie studera. Detta har undersökts med en fallstudie som har studerat ett aktivt planeringsprojekt i Bunkeflostrand i Malmö. Fallstudien har kompletterats med en dokumentstudie samt en intervju som har genomförs med en nyckelaktör i planeringsprojektet, med ansvar för medborgardialog. Denna inhämtade information har sedan analyserats med hjälp av teorier som har sin grund i deliberativ demokratiteori, medborgarmakt, demokratiska innovationer och kommunikativ planeringsteori. Genom denna analys har vi identifierat att medborgare ges en större möjlighet att delta i planprocessen, men att detta inte översätts till att medborgare ges en medbestämmanderätt. Hur medborgares åsikter överförs till planarbetet försvåras av planutformningens teknokratiska natur, vilket innebär att det medborgerliga inflytandet kräver stöd från andra aktörer för att kunna förverkligas. / Malmö municipality’s general plan states an ambition to involve citizens, to a higher degree, in city planning to make the city more equitable and socially sustainable. By involving citizens in planning, it can become more effective when plans are thoroughly anchored with citizens at an early stage. But in order to involve citizens at an early stage in planning, it is necessary for city planning to make efforts that go beyond the legal requirements that Plan- och Bygglagen imposes on the planning procedure for civic democratic influence. This effort is defined in Malmö Municipality’s’ general plan as deepened participation. But what is included in the efforts that go beyond the requirements of the law and the possibilities for how citizens can influence planning can vary from one planning process to another. The purpose of this study is to understand how Malmö Municipality works to involve citizens with methods that go beyond the requirements of the law. This has been investigated with a case study that has examined an active planning project in Bunkeflostrand in Malmö Municipality. The case study has been supplemented by a document study as well as an interview conducted with a key employee in the planning project, responsible for citizen dialogue. This information has then been analyzed with the help of theories based on deliberative democracy theory, citizen power, democratic innovations, and communicative planning theory. Through this analysis, we have identified that citizens are given a greater opportunity to participate in the planning process, but that this is not translated into giving citizens a right of co-decision. How citizens' opinions are transferred to planning work is complicated by the technocratic nature of plan making, which means that civic influence requires support from other stakeholders to be realized.