Doing ethnography with a dual positionality: Experiences in Spanish and Taiwanese governmental institutions

This chapter offers an account of how I conducted ethnographic fieldwork into two digitally-mediated policymaking processes by applying for an internship in Madrid City Council and in Cabinet Office of the Taiwanese government. My dual positionality as an intern and a researcher made it possible for me to circumvent the challenges of studying hard-to-reach elite institutions and to navigate through the power imbalance existing between myself as a PhD researcher and political elites within the two governments. This dual positionality created a semi-insider identity, which allowed me to build reciprocal and trustful working relationships with Spanish and Taiwanese practitioners. Based on this working relationship, I was able to collect insightful perspectives on two policymaking processes enabled by two ‘Digital Platforms for Political Participation’ (DPPPs) in Spanish and Taiwanese governmental contexts.