Will E-Governance and E-Democracy Lead to E-Empowerment?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the still nascent emergence of e-democracy in Canada and its potential to foster constructive online deliberation both now and into the future. There can be little question that with the advent of the internet and a host of participatory tools denoted as Web 2.0, democratic processes are beginning to gravitate online. In attempting to understand the deliberative potential of this online realm, it is important to examine the individualised incentives and ethics of citizens, as well as how information flows stemming from traditional media and new forms of social media impact awareness and action (or inaction). Moreover, we consider the difficult alignment between e-democracy as a national project and the multilayered realities of a federated polity, a variable often over-looked in edemocracy discussions but one adding significant complexity. Based upon an assessment of the Canadian experience to date, proposed directions for strengthening democratic deliberation in an online era are put forth and discussed.

Journal of E-Government, 2005

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UNECA, Addis Ababa, 2005

Policy statements and ideal principles incorporating gender dimensions need support from various sectors of the society to turn them into practical utilities. Despite the constitutional obligations and policy declarations, it is often found that gender equality and women’s participation get a low priority in our institutions and they fail to raise awareness and bring any change in behaviour and institutional practice2. In national ICT policies (referred as NICI Policy under AISI Framework), the situation attains greater concern and significance as socio-economic and cultural barriers and individual perceptions of one’s role makes women to remain within the prescribed ‘role’ even in an otherwise level playing fields. In the ICT arena, for instance, they still remain inside that outer circle of ICT users where a male-dominated society assigns specific limits beyond which women are not able to tread. Women, like other subordinate groups in the society are thought to be “muted”. It is, therefore, very clear that due to the pressure of prevalent social contexts it often becomes very difficult to initiate even a different view of ‘value systems’ as it operates in a classroom as well as in the perceptions of a student at a given time. To incorporate the gender equity and women’s agenda in the ICT policies, we must therefore, break the silence first and sensitize our women and the society in general about the issues. This will create a catalytic environment in the ICT arena overriding the exclusion-inclusion syndrome that ails our current digital power relations today.

2016

Abstract: In the late 1990s, the Government of Canada launched a string of ini-tiatives to usher its citizens into the “information age. ” Recently, the federal gov-ernment has announced “mission accomplished ” in its pledge to become a “model user ” of information technology, recognized around the world as the country most connected to its citizens. This paper interrogates the term “model user ” as a marker of the changes occurring to techniques of government in our expanding information society. It proposes that the “model user ” represents ways to negotiate the changing relationship between nation, state, and citizen associated with economic restructuring and signals a new civilizing discourse for citizen conduct amid the dynamic flows of information and ideas. Further, the “model user ” suggests an emphasis on innovation that is implicated within larger discourses of economic globalization and the premium placed on adapt-ability and creativity. Finally, this paper makes vivid th...

While the Internet is often touted as a revolutionary technology, it might be noted that democratic institutions have witnessed no digital revolution through the Internet. This observation leads this chapter to argue that the field of e-democracy has generally failed to live up to its own reformist rhetoric. It argues that instead of reforming government processes through technology, e-democracy projects have tended to focus either on lowering the costs and increasing the efficiency of existing political processes or on analysing the civic participation that occurs outside of purpose-built e-democracy platforms. The chapter suggests that this lack of attention to the Internet's potential for systemic change in formal political institutions has little normative impact on the democratization of society and may even re-enforce, rather than challenge, the sociopolitical status quo. Further, it suggests that the current approach of e-democracy risks normalizing the Internet to the norms and expectations of the offline world. To elucidate this argument, this chapter overviews both the general trend of e-democracy projects and criticisms of those projects. Finally, the chapter proposes a more radical vision of e-democracy that, it suggests, would usher a larger potential for democratization. This more radical vision of e-democracy consists of recognizing the attributes of the Internet that transcend the limits of the analogue world and applying these to democracy. Such an approach would open the path for envisaging new political processes and systems, allowing the field of e-democracy to live up to its own rhetoric, and affording society the means to address multiple of the centuries-old problems faced by democracy.

2009

Beyond the rhetorical discourse of metaphor, hyperbole and disconnected futurology, there is scope for a radical policy agenda in the sphere of e-democracy. E-democracy should not be conceived as a panacea for all the flaws of political democracy and social communication. But it does hold out hope of contributing to the development of two incomplete historical projects: the Internet and democracy (OECD 2003:159).

ICT in the Governance of Society

This chapter re-interprets the development of electronic participation and electronic government in the context of an alternative ideology. Bringing back the critique of previous chapters about government as a technology, the chapter shows how it is possible to generate new and socially oriented spaces for democratic processes in which technologies are tools for transformation. This requires expanding the concept of citizenship, of the state and of society.

emphasise that e-democracy should not be separated from the everyday operations of government. While online democratic engagement is a slowly evolving process, initial steps are being undertaken by governments that enable e-participation to shape democratic reform.

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The output side of the political system provides services for citizens and societies. It is on the output side daily interaction among citizens and public administration take place and is maintained. This is, indeed, a crucial aspect of daily life for most citizens and their interpretation of a good life, not at least in mature welfare states with extensive provision of public social services as in Sweden and has been recognized as important for political legitimacy. e-democracy are extending the meaning of democracy by using information technologies on the in-put side of the political system and thereby influencing political legitimacy in traditional terms. But there is also, as addressed in this paper, digital democratic empowerment and interaction among citizens and the public administration at the output side of the political system. Thus the use of electronic governmental interaction at the output side of the political system is a core of political legitimacy in the digital era -legitimate e-government.

Principles and Best Practices, 2004

Citizen participation-driven e-government is, in theory, a desirable objective of government. However, it is complex along a variety of dimensions: from a design standpoint, considering the implementation aspects of access, and awareness; from a baseline assessment of what has been implemented to date empirically; and in terms of a meaningful design of responsive policy. Much of the observed variations in egovernment applications is still descriptive in nature and given the rapidly emerging technological and political ramifications, is expected. Following an overview of several examples of different types of participation-related e-government applications, we present preliminary results of an examination of the relationship between state egovernment initiatives and underlying demographic, cultural or economic variables.

Public Policy, 2008

2017

2005

JeDEM - eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) offer opportunities for greater civic participation in democratic reform. Government ICT use has, however, predominantly been associated with e-government applications that focus on one-way information provision and service delivery. This article distinguishes between e-government and processes of e-democracy, which facilitate active civic engagement through two-way, ongoing dialogue. It draws from participation initiatives undertaken in two case studies. The first highlights efforts to increase youth political engagement in the local government area of Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom. The second is Iceland’s constitutional crowdsourcing, an initiative intended to increase civic input into constitutional reform. These examples illustrate that, in order to maintain legitimacy in the networked environment, a change in governmental culture is required to enable open and responsive e-democracy practices. When coupled with traditional...

Leela Damodoran observes that fundamental to the success of e-Government is the active engagement of citizens in the planning, design, implementation and evaluation of the entire process. There are many prerequisites for active citizen engagement -the essential ones include: the opportunity to influence the agenda-setting process; awareness and understanding of existing/proposed e-government processes; recognition of the relevance of these to the quality of life of the individual citizen; knowledge of the potential benefits offered by e-Government. There are a multiplicity of creative techniques and methods for engaging citizens but these have not become accepted practices in IS development processes. Utilising citizen engagement techniques as established good practices is a further prerequisite for the success of e-Government since they are key to promoting social inclusion.