ERulemaking

Electronic rulemaking (also known as eRulemaking and e-rulemaking) is the use of digital technologies by government agencies in the rulemaking and decision making processes. An interdisciplinary electronic rulemaking research community has formed as a result of National Science Foundation funding under the auspices of the Digital Government Program. Groups such as the Cornell E-Rulemaking Initiative (CeRI) have been focused on researching how technologies such as Web 2.0 can help foster greater public participation in the political process, specifically, in Federal Agencies’ rulemaking.

In the United States, Electronic rulemaking (also known as eRulemaking and e-rulemaking) can be understood as a subset of a larger Federal eGovernment initiative. In the 1990s Federal Agencies that propose and enact regulations, such as the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC), began to modernize and create websites for publication of proposed regulations and online commenting from the public.

President George W. Bush made strides in increasing e-Government. Under President Bush, Congress passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which among other things, required agencies to accept comments electronically and make various information, including comments and rulemaking materials, publicly available online.

Since 2008, President Barack Obama has greatly increased the number of Federal eGovernment initiatives.

In 2009, President Barack Obama directed government agencies to utilize new technologies such as Web 2.0 and other information technology to increase transparency and openness in government. Soon after, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum to the Federal Agencies reiterating three open government principles, “transparency, participation, and collaboration,” identified by the President. OMB gave agencies four months to create an “open government plan,” which would address each “cornerstone” of open government.

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