| | |
Summary: Structuring Dialogue Between the People and Their
Representatives
Katie Greenwood, Trevor Bench-Capon, and Peter McBurney
Department of Computer Science
University of Liverpool
Liverpool, L69 7ZF, UK
k.m.greenwood,tbc,p.j.mcburney¡@csc.liv.ac.uk
Abstract. Conversations between citizens and their representatives may take a
number of forms. In this paper, we consider one of these -- letters between cit-
izens and representatives -- and explore the application of a well-known model
of dialogue types to these. We provide a method to give these types a precise
characterization in terms of the initial beliefs and desires of the participants, and
then explore one type, persuasion dialogues. This work commences the formal
modeling of citizen-representative interactions necessary for a fully electronic
democracy.
1 Introduction
An important feature of a democracy is that those who rule should be accessible and
accountable to those whom they rule. Citizens have the right to air their grievances and
to seek justifications of policy from their Government, either by direct approach to the
responsible Minister, or mediated through their elected representatives. Traditionally
|
