Electronic participative democracy in policy and decision making. A case study of Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA)

Abstract

The report gives an account of all tasks and field activities done in order to successfully complete our project. Much as the people in Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) can physically vote their leaders, the current decision making process involves a lot of paper work and requires the academic staff to physically be present at the polling station in order to cast their vote. In this lengthy process, the academic staff have to provide their credentials to the administrators/officials at the polling stations and then they verify the information provided and they are given ballot papers in order to complete the decision making process. This process is tiresome and time consuming, which increases the rate of absenteeism from decision making. These academic staffs decision making problems were bridged through the implementation of an e-Decision making system that provides an easier way of decision making that does not require ones’ physical presence in order to cast their vote. The project scope was limited to MUASA, Makerere University. The objectives of the project were fulfilled using a number of tools and techniques. In objective one, we carried out a study using data collection tools like questionnaires and interview guides. In objective two, the project was designed using data flow diagrams and entity relationship diagrams. In objective three, the system was developed using HTML, PHP, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery & MySQL.