China's e-democracy in information age

E-democracy is a new type of democracy in Information Age. At first, the paper discusses the definitions of democracy and e-democracy, and then the paper analyzes the advantages and problems of E-democracy in China. Finally the paper investigates the future of e-democracy in China

Pers, Demokrasi Dan Negara Indonesia Post-Soeharto: Sebuah Perspektif

The resignation of President Soeharto in May 1998 marked the end of new order era and started a fundamental change within democracy in Indonesia. As a democratic state, Indonesia arguably provides a system to guarantee the freedom of press and good environment of mass media; as the media is supposedly not to be power driven. Several factors have been observed to understand the relationship between press and democracy. Those are democratic revolution, freedom of press, political oligarchy, the role of students, and criminal democracy practice in Indonesia. This article found that under the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Boediono (SBY-Boediono) era, newspeople freedom in journalism was gripped by the practice of "criminal democracy" which continues to undermine the development of press freedom. To conclude, democracy in Indonesia is decayed by unjust practices from the political elites; it further affects the way press and mass media in performing their roles as the fourth pillar of democracy

Digital Democracy: Episode IV—A New Hope*: How a Corporation for Public Software Could Transform Digital Engagement for Government and Civil Society

Although successive generations of digital technology have become increasingly powerful in the past 20 years, digital democracy has yet to realize its potential for deliberative transformation. The undemocratic exploitation of massive social media systems continued this trend, but it only worsened an existing problem of modern democracies, which were already struggling to develop deliberative infrastructure independent of digital technologies. There have been many creative conceptions of civic tech, but implementation has lagged behind innovation. This article argues for implementing one such vision of digital democracy through the establishment of a public corporation. Modeled on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the United States, this entity would foster the creation of new digital technology by providing a stable source of funding to nonprofit technologists, interest groups, civic organizations, government, researchers, private companies, and the public. Funded entities would produce and maintain software infrastructure for public benefit. The concluding sections identify what circumstances might create and sustain such an entity

The effect of new technologies on civic participation models

The development of new technologies will enable decentralization and freedom of communication for large numbers of people, by overcoming the barriers that once rendered direct participation of society unfeasible. The continued development of information and communication technologies (ICT) makes it possible for people to participate in political life. Today, the use of e-tools is becoming a way of adapting democracy to the needs of contemporary states and strengthening civil society. The aim of this paper is to answer questions about the essence of ICT and forms of civic engagement through electronic forms of participation. The author seeks answers to the following questions: How does ICT influence political processes? How do electronic communication systems create the conditions for the political engagement of citizens? Can the use of information technologies have a real impact on participation

E-democracy: exploring the current stage of e-government

Governments around the world have been pressured to implement e-Government programs in order to improve the government-citizen dialogue. The authors of this article review prior literature on such efforts to find if they lead to increased democratic participation ("e-Democracy") for the affected citizens, with a focus on the key concepts of transparency, openness, and engagement. The authors find that such efforts are a starting point toward e-Democracy, but the journey is far from complete

Electronic governance, premise for implementation of electronic democracy

Living in a rapidly changing society, where information travels with great speed and its upgrade is essential, we decided to approach certain aspects of e-democracy, as a dynamic way of citizen participation, using new Information and Communications Technologies. The theme chosen for this research, Electronic governance, premise for implementation of electronic democracy, is a part of Electronic Administration field and identifies the meanings of implementing e-government and e-democracy, the necessity and effects of putting them into practice and the conditions to be fulfilled for the development of electronic services and fostering citizen participation in their use. E-governance as well as edemocracy have a clear contribution in making social progress, thanks to capitalize the most important irreversible resource, the time for achievement of the main administrative operations. The overall objective of the research aims to establish the relationship between governance and electronic democracy. From this perspective, this paper will contain: analyzing the importance of both e-governance and e-democracy, risks and benefits for each one, clarifying the need and implications underlying the implementation of electronic systems and explain the conditions to be met by citizens in order to benefit from these services. To achieve the objectives set, will be dominant the analyzing method of the social phenomena in their evolution. They will also combine harmoniously with practical examples in various member states of the European Union.e-governance, e-democracy

E-democracy: potential for political revolution?

This article focuses on the traditional notions of democracy and governance in the context of the recent shock first-round election results in France. The results prima facie suggest voter apathy and disengagement from the democratic process. However, the spontaneous street protests confirm that voters are not apathetic about democracy, rather they are dissatisfied with the current model of government and the unresponsive nature of government. It will be argued that the interactive nature of Internet technology has the potential to reinvigorate the democratic process and re-engage citizens positively in political life