Electronic Democracy

Electronic democracy refers to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to extend, strengthen, and promote effective and efficient democratic practices between and among governments and citizens. The inherent nature of ICTs lends itself to electronic democracy. ICTs are interactive, global in scope, and increasingly ubiquitous. As more stakeholders (including diverse civil liberties groups) want a say in governance, and as access to ICTs becomes more pervasive, electronic democracy has taken on a new vitality and viability. Electronic democracy is practiced by governments, and through new forms of citizen engagement whereby diverse stakeholders use the Internet for mobilization, consultation, and public education and awareness campaigns. The benefits of electronic democracy are many. It can allow for communitarian democracy, where citizens can participate regardless of socioeconomic status or geographic location. It supports simultaneous, interactive communications among many people, with low set-up costs. Email allows for the forwarding and redistribution of information, and email and the Web also support action alerts and online petitions. Political decision-making becomes more transparent, as citizens can ascertain which [Page 171]industry associations, political-activist groups, lobbyists, and consumer and public-interest groups are active in various causes.

There are also disadvantages to electronic democracy, however. Access issues loom large; not everyone has access to ICTs, and various digital divides exist. Even when people have access to ICTs, attention needs to be paid to adequate training and support for the fostering of digital literacy. Many politicians resist electronic democracy; for instance, their traditional practice has been to respond primarily to requests from the people whom they represent, and with email, one often cannot determine where messages are coming from. The organizational culture of politics is also impacted; more work is created for staff when email is added to the deluge of regular mail.

E-government initiatives are flourishing in the United States, Canada, Australia, the U.K., and parts of Europe. These programs support citizen access to government information, personal benefits, and procurement (including bidding, purchasing, and payment); the facilitation of general compliance; and government-to-government information and service integration. A new trend is to create government portals, allowing for one-stop shopping for government services.

Some early examples of electronic democracy in the United States led many to believe in its inevitability. In 1989, one of the earliest community networks, the Public Electronic Network (PEN) in Santa Monica, California, developed an online proposal for the homeless known as SWASHLOCK (showers, washers, and lockers). What was interesting here was the involvement of local politicians, community activists, and the homeless themselves, who were able to talk among themselves on terminals set up in community locations. In 1984, the Minnesota Electronic Democracy Project hosted the first-ever online debate between candidates for the U.S. Senate. The controversy over the Communications Decency Act (CDA) inspired an estimated 65,000 to 100,000 Internet users to read legislative updates about the bill within three to four days of each update's posting. The May 1998 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Hearing on Universal Access included live audio feed, live photos, interactive chat, background information, and a mechanism for citizens to submit their own questions to the FCC.

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