I. Introduction

Back in the middle of the 19th century, the famous politician Abraham Lincoln defined the very essence of democracy: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people". This statement formulates the main goal of democracy - the people should be able to freely decide their fate. Democracy, based on the leading ideas of equality and freedom, is primarily aimed at transforming the political elite into popular rule and developing civil society. The underdevelopment of civil society institutions hinders the processes of democratisation of the country and pushes it to the anti-democratic path of Eurasianism (^{Zastava, 2018}). The main task of civil society organisations is to provide an opportunity for everyone to participate in the management of the country. They serve as a crucial information reservoir for both citizens and authorities, exerting influence over governmental policies and actions while also ensuring government accountability (^{Ingram, 2020}). The main components of civil society are the community, both collective and individual rights and interests of the local population.

An important stage in the development of any democratic country is the introduction of decentralisation of power, which helps to satisfy the interests of the public and involve society in a systematic dialogue with local authorities. Decentralisation is a way to transfer more control to local communities to solve the socio-economic problems of a particular area (^{Shahini et al., 2022}). Important arguments in favour of decentralisation of power are that it better ensures the rights of the local population to vote in government and better protects minorities (^{Kalin, 1999}). Thus, local self-government proclaims the right to "be heard" and the actual ability to manage and make decisions. Public influence can be manifested in various forms: the ability to elect government representatives, political initiatives of the population, the right to vote at local meetings, etc. It is the opportunity to be involved in making managerial decisions that establish democratic governance in the state and contributes to the social activity of the population (^{Voyvoda, 2022}). Influencing the solution of local issues to meet their own needs, society fully implements the fundamental "right to power".

Since the main goals of decentralisation are the effective provision of services based on the principle of subsidiarity and the involvement of citizens in managerial decision-making, a reasonable question arises: "How exactly will the population exercise the right to vote in decision-making?" (^{Böckenförde, 2011}). Attracting citizens to participate in the implementation of local self-government should be based on the principles of equality and participation, which is why the most universal and effective solution is the introduction of electronic platforms, due to which every citizen, even without leaving home, will have the opportunity to join the process of making socially important decisions, which is especially valuable in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (^{Kerimkhulle et al., 2023}; ^{Kopnova et al., 2022}). Therewith, the in troduction of electronic platforms will contribute to the modernisation of society and the quality of public services. The importance of having digital platforms is also conditioned upon the fact that it is one of the most effective ways to study public opinion and form a social base (^{Bhatti et al., 2022}).

The practice of implementing electronic platforms is not new and is widely used in many countries around the world. Such systems are different in design, but they all have the same function - establishing community feedback with the government. Notably, such platforms can include not only online consultations but also online voting, public discussions, debates, etc. In other words, such digital platforms are both a tool for dialogue between society and the authorities and a so-called tool for monitoring public opinion (^{Zamira et al., 2012}). Therewith, issues related to public consultations remain understudied at the scientific level and not regulated by legal acts (^{Dubych, 2012}). The main purpose of this study is to analyse the practice of implementing electronic platforms in different countries of the world, highlight the advantages and disadvantages of such platforms, their importance in the functioning of public authorities, and the problem of implementation.

The primary objective of this study is to explore and understand the significance of electronic platforms as predominant channels of communication between governmental institutions and the public. The study materials and the conclusions determined on their basis are of practical value for territorial communities, representative bodies of local self-government, and civil society organisations, which, within their competence, can establish a systematic transparent dialogue with the population and promote the socio-political activity of citizens.

II. Materials and methods

The methodological research is based on a combination of structural and functional approach methods, which allowed considering the implementation of electronic platforms and their elements, as well as comparison and research methods that were used to analyse the functioning of existing electronic platforms. This study aims to explore opportunities for utilising electronic platforms, their significance in fostering democracy and their potential for implementation within public authorities. Additionally, this study aims to emphasise the relevance of public involvement in public affairs management. The investigation was conducted based on a pre-established theoretical framework, which lays the groundwork for future research in this area.

The theoretical basis was the research of Ukrainian and foreign authors who studied the global practice of using electronic platforms and the problems of their implementation. For a better understanding, this study also included an analysis of the public consultation process and platforms in countries such as Albania (Electronic Register for Public Notices and Consultations), Thailand (Participation platform), Finland (Demokratia.fi) and the UK (Citizen Space). The choice of countries and platforms is deliberate. It enables a diverse analysis across governance contexts, offers global representation, explores platform impacts, identifies innovative practices, and facilitates cross-cultural learning. This selection enriches the study’s comprehensiveness and applicability.

This study was carried out in three main stages. At the first stage of the study, its theoretical base was formed, including the regulatory one, which will serve as the foundation for further research on the declared subject. The problem, purpose, and methods are highlighted, and a sequence of actions in the process of solving the problem is formed. The analysis of the national development of e-government in the context of decentralisation and its current state is carried out. The study examines the regulatory and legal consolidation of the company's right to participate in the management of state affairs and their implementation. The first stage of the study established how exactly the introduction of digital platforms can affect the lives of community residents. The main tasks of electronic platforms and their role in the democratisation and development of civil society are defined.

The second stage of the study was characterised by an analysis of foreign practices of public participation in the decision-making process. The analysis included a detailed review of existing digital platforms in the Western world: the purpose of their work, the services they can offer, and the results of their implementation. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of the use of electronic consultations was investigated. The analysis of public digital services, access to which is provided by electronic platforms, and their importance in the development of civil society was carried out. In the second stage of the study, the conclusions obtained as a result of experimental work were checked, clarified, and analysed.

Based on the analysis that was carried out, the final stage of the study formulated theoretical conclusions containing answers to the questions solved in the study, namely: "Why does the introduction of electronic platforms contribute to the development and activation of civil society and how important is it to have a systematic transparent dialogue with the authorities?" The main possibilities of functioning of digital platforms, prospects for their development and their importance in the development of civil society are identified. In general, the results of the study and the necessary factual conclusions can serve as a necessary basis for further analysis and research of the prospects for the functioning of electronic platforms for public consultations in the future.

III. Results

A scientific and analytical study of the implementation and functioning of electronic platforms for public consultations has given the following results. Research on various aspects of the use of electronic platforms as key means of communication is primarily related to the insufficient organisation and standardisation of interaction between the population and public authorities. The mechanism of functioning of digital portals and their implementation requires a detailed study and regulatory consolidation to ensure the right of society to participate in the management of public affairs. In general, the existence of digital systems as leading platforms for public consultation has several fundamental meanings.

Figure 1 schematically shows two main (but not the only ones) tasks of digital platforms for public consultations: forming national policy and solving local issues. In other words, it becomes clear that public consultations can be divided into consultations on national policy issues and consultations on local self-government (^{Amanbek et al., 2020}). To confirm or refute this provision, an analysis of the practice of implementing electronic platforms in different countries of the world was carried out.

Figure 1 Priority functions of electronic platforms for online consultations 

In March 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted ^{Draft Law No. 4254 "On public consultations" (2020)} as a basis. The purpose of the draft law is to define the basic principles (standards) for conducting public consultations in the development and implementation of national policy, solving issues of local importance. According to the E-Government Survey (^{United Nations, 2020}), Ukraine is classified as a country with a high online services index (OSI). The online services index measures the government's ability and willingness to provide services and communicate with its citizens electronically. Thus, Ukraine aims to create effective e-governance with its digital platforms and systems, but it is only at the beginning of its journey (^{Meleshchenko, 2023}).

An example of the introduction of an international digital platform for public consultation is Consul Project, a free and open-source platform that can be used by any person or organisation. The platform is already used by 35 countries, 135 institutions, and 90 million citizens all over the world (^{CONSUL open participation…, 2019}). The platform offers a secure tool for conducting e-consultations, debates, discussing legislative acts, submitting proposals from the public, and voting for draft participatory budgets. The digital platform has a registration system that protects personal data and promotes privacy.

Therewith, along with international electronic platforms, there are national portals that are more popular. Thus, at the initiative of the Government of the Republic of Albania, to ensure better and open communication with citizens and civil society, the National Agency for Information Society (NAIS), introduced an electronic register for public messages and consultations (Electronic Register for Public Notices and Consultations) and its integration into the government portal e-Albania. This system will serve as a place for consultations between citizens and public authorities in Albania and has 2,862,868 unique users as of June 2023 (^{E-Albania, 2023}). The presence of the unique government portal e-Albania and the integration of the Electronic Register of Public Messages and Consultations into the infrastructure of the portal e-Albania using the same user database without the need for special registration will increase the influence and access of citizens to this system.

The platform itself has several sections: consultations with citizens and consultations with experts. The search engine allows searching for information on the subject of the initiative. Each consultation/discussion contains information about the date of publication/closure of the consultation, its status, the report of the meeting, etc. There are no consultations of local self-government bodies or legislative bodies on the portal (consultations on draft laws are carried out by the corresponding ministries, departments, or national agencies, the list of which is contained in the "institutions" section). There is a "reports" section but not for each consultation, for a year (or six months) from each subject of the initiative. Various forms of consultations are provided but only authorised participants have the right to vote (^{Fernándes-Jesús et al., 2019}).

With the support of the government, Thailand has developed a so-called "Digital Platform Services Law", which is part of Thailand's development strategy for the introduction of e-government (^{Thananithichot, 2020}; ^{Thailand: The impact…, 2023}). This portal is a complex multifunctional entity that is overloaded with information, categories, subheadings, and links to other portals. It contains links to documents of local self-government bodies (but there are no consultations on them on this portal). Authorised persons (data representatives) of local public administration bodies of Thailand are responsible for the accuracy and correctness of the information included in the Register and are personally responsible in accordance with the current legislation for the completeness and accuracy of the information, including personal data protection during the placement of administrative acts in the Register. The registry has a convenient document search system: one can search by date of publication, status/type of document, its number, or the subject of the initiative. Evaluating past experience with government e-platforms, about 5000 users per month are expected from the future implementation of this platform.

With the support of the Finnish Ministry of Justice, an electronic platform Demokratia.fi was created, which functions to implement participatory democracy (^{Beaulieu-Guay et al., 2023}). The online citizens’ initiative was opened in December 2012 and has so far activated more than 300 000 users per month. More than 500 000 people have signed one or more of the 246 initiatives made electronically. The theory of participatory democracy is based on the belief in the ability of citizens not only to participate in elections, referendums, and plebiscites but also directly in the political process - in the preparation, adoption, and implementation of authority’s decisions. Yes, Demokratia.fi provides up-to-date information on how issues are prepared at the local, national, and European levels. The website offers a variety of democratic services aimed at continuous contact between public authorities and the local population. Through an online service at the local level, service users have the right to participate in and influence the activities of their municipality. The electronic platform also provides an opportunity to participate in the process of developing draft laws: propose to adopt a new law, amend an existing one, or repeal an existing law. This service is available to Finnish citizens who have the right to vote. Individuals can come up with a public initiative and support already open initiatives on the service. The consultation takes place only in the form of open messages under the corresponding topic (^{Tweedie & Luzia, 2023}).

An example of a digital public consultation platform in the UK is Citizen Space with more than 1500 visitors per month (²⁰²³). The system is used for a wide range of public consultations, including consultations on draft laws, planning, permits, and regulatory processes. The software, in addition to publishing consultations, also publishes results and reports on consultation data. David Porteous, Senior Business Analyst, Edinburgh City Council, UK, said: "Citizen Space is doing everything necessary - it solves so many problems… I can't imagine how the organisation could provide advice or interact without it".

The National Portal for public consultation in Ukraine aims to promote cooperation between citizens, businesses, and non-governmental organisations with government agencies in policy-making and legislative development (^{Pelivanova, 2019}). Through the electronic platform, government agencies have the opportunity to publish draft regulatory acts and strategic documents for public discussion. Each institution has decentralised access to the portal and publishes documents on which public consultations are planned. All interested parties have the opportunity to get preliminary information about the planned changes and express their opinion on improving the country's legislation and policies. In addition to public consultations, news, and strategic documents, the portal also has a discussion forum that provides an opportunity to organise debates on socially important topics (^{Pelivanova, 2019}). Thus, based on the theoretical study of the introduction of electronic platforms for public consultations and analysis of the functioning of existing platforms in foreign countries, it can be understood that electronic portals are multifunctional and in addition to conducting online consulting, the systems can offer other categories of services.

Figure 2 schematically shows an inexhaustible list of tasks that can be performed by electronic platforms, namely: informing the population about the work of the body, posting up-to-date news; publishing statistics on the local/state budget, reports on the use of budget funds; providing online services, such as getting a digital certificate of COVID-19 vaccination; conducting public consultations of public authorities, which includes online surveys, questionnaires, conducting video and audio conferences, forums and public hearings, etc. (^{Wang et al., 2023}).

Figure 2 Tasks of electronic platforms for online consultations with public authorities 

The introduction of such a tool as electronic platforms is aimed at promoting greater involvement of citizens in making managerial decisions. The electronic platform can provide opportunities for conducting online consultations, online discussions of relevant issues in the format of a professional discussion, holding forums or public hearings, and much more. Such electronic systems will help to bring ordinary people and government officials closer together, as they will help to analyse and monitor the needs of the public. This subject requires much more consideration, which is why this study will serve as a relevant foundation for further research.

Public consultations are instrumental in fostering the continuous functioning and development of democratic societies and their systems. They contribute by promoting informed decision-making through diverse perspectives, enhancing transparency and accountability in governance, encouraging active citizen engagement, and legitimizing policies through broad consensus. These consultations also reduce polarization, foster inclusivity of marginalized voices, educate citizens on complex matters, drive adaptive governance in response to evolving needs, and safeguard against authoritarian tendencies. Ultimately, these contributions fortify democratic values, bolster governance effectiveness, and ensure the enduring progress and resilience of democratic societies.

It's important to note that maintaining an ongoing dialogue between citizens and public authorities is of paramount importance. This virtual dialogue ensures that citizens can participate in governance processes without physical constraints. It promotes informed citizenry, empowers marginalized groups, allows for timely responses from authorities, accommodates diverse schedules, fosters equitable representation, and facilitates efficient engagement. Moreover, it proves especially valuable during emergencies like pandemics, enabling uninterrupted governance. This constant virtual dialogue ultimately bridges the gap between citizens and authorities, fostering a more engaged, inclusive, and responsive democratic society.

IV. Discussion

Electronic platforms for public consultations are an atypical way of feedback between public authorities and the population since the trend of involving citizens in the management of public affairs through the use of information and Communication Technologies is quite new, and therefore insufficiently considered. However, the Institute of public consultations has long been the subject of research by many scientists who analyse public consultations from the standpoint of leading tools for regulating the participation of civil society in public administration. In a context where any project is likely to have direct or indirect social consequences, it makes sense to maintain public interest and awareness (^{Sidore, 2021}).

The concept of involving citizens in the implementation of national/ local policies is becoming increasingly popular as a model of public administration reform. Thus, the constant search for establishing a systematic link between public authorities and civil society is a steady consequence of various transformational processes (^{Tatsiy & Serohina, 2018}). Faced with completely new challenges in a globalised world, governments at all levels are increasingly realising that they cannot effectively implement policies -no matter how clever they may be- if citizens do not understand and support them. Consequently, they are looking for the latest or improved models and approaches to better inform and involve their citizens in the policy-making process (^{Plostajner & Mendes, 2004}). The authors of this study agree with the main thesis of the paper that in the era of digitalisation, such changes are aimed at modernising public administration and consolidating the course towards democratisation.

The interaction of the authorities with the people can be expressed in various forms, such as online consultations or face-to-face meetings. However, in any case, such cooperation should be based on the principle of equality, which includes the possibility for everyone regardless of age, gender, nationality, or financial situation to be involved in this dialogue (^{Ender, 2021}). Consultations with the public allow for strengthening the level of trust of citizens in government institutions, establishing an effective dialogue between the authorities and the public, increasing the degree of transparency, predictability, validity, and quality of decisions taken by state and local authorities, expanding citizens' access to information about the activities of these bodies, ensuring more effective use of public finances, eliminating numerous corruption risks in the adoption of regulatory legal acts (^{Chalceva & Shvets, 2021}). Consultations can be held in different ways and have different implementation mechanisms. For example, monitoring of public opinion can be carried out using public online surveys or, questionnaires. Discussion of regulatory legal acts can be carried out in video or audio conference mode. However, evidently, this requires an open and free online platform that will be available to everyone. The rapid influx of digital technologies has created huge opportunities for new forms of communication in the government-civilian format (^{Freeman & Quirke, 2013}).

Therewith, there is no consensus on what function public consultations perform since, as practice shows, consultations are a multifunctional phenomenon that is constantly being transformed by the needs of the public. Consulting is not a one-time event but a dynamic process that can consist of several complementary consulting actions that may differ in goals, deadlines, target groups, or tools (^{European Union, 2014}). The authors agree with the statements and, based on the information provided, conclude that the public consultations on national policy issues posted on electronic platforms may relate to:

People will participate only in what interests them, otherwise, they will not do anything (^{Hernandez, 2021}). Local self-government bodies and territorial communities are the closest authorities to the people, so it is the issues referred to their competence that attract the greatest attention from the local population, especially in the conditions of decentralisation, when local councils receive a much larger number of powers and budget and the problem of interaction between the local population and the authorities is particularly acute.

Theorists argue that decentralisation can improve governance through a variety of channels, some of the most powerful of which is better information about local needs, greater accountability to citizens -as mentioned above- and competition between municipalities for a reputation that provides better results. In other words, by getting more rights from central authorities, local councils can (and should) contribute to the activation of the local population by establishing a constant and constructive dialogue between the population and government representatives (^{Faguet & Poeschl, 2015}). Because for the process of democratic development, the feedback between the authorities and the person is very important -the awareness of citizens about the actions of the authorities and the awareness of the authorities about the real needs of a particular citizen. It is easiest to implement it at the basic level of government- local, where citizens and government representatives live side by side (^{Lelechenko et al., 2017}; ^{Zastava, 2018}).

There are several reasons for the mandatory continuous communication between a public authority and the public. Firstly, the cooperation of local governments with the population affects the quality of life in the community. Each city or even street needs a special settlement, and only the local population can fully pay attention to solving socially important problems of a particular area for its further development (^{Zhansagimova et al., 2022}). Secondly, cooperation between the authorities and the population ensures the involvement of society in the implementation of the national and local policy, contributes to a more effective and productive performance of the duties of public bodies, and also allows society to fully exercise its political right to participate in the management of public affairs. The concept of "open government" covers a wide range of practices that can lead to new ways of governance from the standpoint of both the government and citizens (^{Governance Committee, 2018}).

Finding new means of communication with community residents is an urgent challenge, and therefore the services that local authorities can offer must be affordable and effective. The introduction of electronic platforms for online consultations of public authorities with residents of communities in the context of decentralisation is quite relevant for several reasons, according to scientists (^{Yukhno, 2022}):

Discussing the advantages of the existence of electronic platforms for public consultations, it is worth noting that there are many difficulties associated with their implementation. Firstly, the use of information technologies requires an absolute modernisation of the management and administration system (^{Barlybayev et al., 2017}). Developed e-government, with a high-quality system of training administrative personnel, really contributes to the search for the simplest and most accessible channels of communication with the local population, but this requires a complete reform of the outdated model, which includes additional funding, regulatory consolidation, cooperation not only with residents of communities but also with business representatives, modernisation of the civil service, etc. (M ^{Abudaqa et al., 2019}) Such modernisation should be considered as a component in the structure of a comprehensive public administration reform and is possible only if it is combined with a package of other important institutional and legal transformations - administrative and territorial, constitutional, budgetary, tax, and land reforms (^{Tiutiunnyk, 2015}). In addition, consultations are created to discuss already adopted legal acts or monitor public opinion about future projects. The influence of such civil society organisations as public organisations, trade unions, employers' organisations, creative unions, etc., whose activities are not directly related to the exercise of power, is directed at monitoring the actions of state institutions at the national and local levels (^{Paliy, 2012}). That is, until there is a clear regulatory consolidation of the main standards for conducting public consultations, considering or ignoring public sentiment remains only a matter of discretion for government representatives.

Notably, today the question of the effectiveness of electronic platforms for online consultations is increasingly being raised. The results of the analysis of the work of electronic platforms showed that the activity of citizens is really small. There is no doubt that both the development industry and local communities tend to return to face-to-face meetings but this does not mean that the online engagement process has not been successful and should not be used in the future (^{Giles, 2022}). Every year, citizens' activity and awareness are growing, and there is continuous informatisation of society, information and communication technologies have long been part of any civilised society, and therefore the inclusion of electronic platforms in the activities of public authorities is seen as a significant component in the policy implementation process.

Although there is currently no extensive regulatory framework and insufficient practical experience in the use of electronic consultation platforms, it is clear that administrative management needs to be modernised and closely cooperated with civil society to strengthen citizens' confidence in their government and increase its productivity and efficiency (^{Alhaj, 2016}).

V: Conclusions

This study examines the influence of electronic platforms in promoting transparent and continuous communication between public authorities and civil society using public consultations. Such digital portals are of significant value to local communities who engage with local self-government bodies, as they help in addressing social issues that are specific to the area. The adoption of online services strengthens governmental transparency and enhances its public image.

Implementing electronic platforms requires reimagining public administration and incorporating specialized monitoring groups, social research, and a comprehensive regulatory framework to define standards for digital portal usage. A global examination shows that these platforms have differences in design, content, and functions, and integration is necessary for efficient, secure, and transparent information exchange.

Enhancing interaction between public authorities and civil society is still a pertinent issue. Systematic dialogue fosters trust between public authorities and civil society stakeholders by cultivating public understanding. According to the study, creating electronic platforms for online consultations helps foster socio-economic development, upholds citizens' rights, and safeguards personal interests.

This paper contributes by clarifying how electronic platforms foster transparent communication between public authorities and civil society. It emphasizes community-focused problem-solving, enhances governmental transparency, and empowers civil society through integrated opinions.