Building on the results of an initial survey, published in "Citizens as Partners: Information, Consultation and Public Participation in Policy-making" (OECD, 2001), a set of country case studies on current and emerging practice in the use of ICTs for citizen engagement were collected in 2002. The book draws heavily upon the insights, contributions and guidance of national experts from OECD member countries participating in the Expert Group on Government Relations with Citizens and Civil Society. It also represents a contribution to the OECD E-Government Project, under whose auspices the work was conducted. The book includes an executive summary highlighting the main policy lessons for using ICTs to provide information, opportunities for consultation and public participation in policy making. It suggests 10 guiding principles for successful online consultation and identifies 5 key challenges for online citizen engagement in policy making. This is followed by a major comparative review of current practice by Professor Ann Macintosh (International Teledemocracy Centre, Napier University, UK) including numerous examples from 12 OECD member countries (Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovak Republic, Sweden, United Kingdom) as well as the European Commission. The book concludes with an analysis of the future of democracy and the Internet by Professor Stephen Coleman (Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, United Kingdom). This publication was prepared by Joanne Caddy in collaboration with Christian Vergez of the OECD Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development, and is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD.