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Democracy Online
The Prospects for Political Renewal Through the Internet
Edited by Peter Shane, Ohio State University, USA

Routledge

September 2004: 234x156: 288pp
Hb: 0-415-94864-9: £50.00
Pb: 0-415-94865-7: £13.99

Market: Politics, Law and Communication Studies

Published by: Taylor and Francis Group


Synopsis:
Taking a multi-disciplinary approach that they identify as a 'cyber realist research agenda', the contributors examine the prospects for electronic democracy in terms of its form and practice - while avoiding the pitfall of treating the benefits of electronic democracy as being self evident. The debates question what electronic democracy needs to accomplish in order to revitalize democracy, and what the current state of electronic democracy can teach us about the challenges and opportunities for implementing democratic technology initiatives. Ultimately, the contributors argue for a complex, multi-disciplinary approach to the theory behind the workings of e-democracy, as well as to the future development and expansion of technological initiatives to promote online democracy.

Contents:

Part 1: The Potential for Democratic Technologies and New Political Practices
1. Technologies for Democracy
2. Cyberjuries: A Model of Deliberative Democracy?
3. Electronic Media and the Prospects for Transnational Democracy: Cyberspace as a cosmopolitan public sphere

Part 2: Electronic Democracy and Democratic Revitalization
4. The Electronic Federalist: The Internet and the eclectic institutionalization of democratic legitimacy
5. Global Governance and Electronic Democracy: e-Politics as a multidimensional experience
6. Interactivity, Equality, and the Prospects for Electronic Democracy
7. Online Deliberation: Possibilities of the Internet for deliberative democracy
8. Hacktivism and the Future of Democratic Discourse
9. Getting Past Electronic Democracy

Part 3: The Lessons of Electronic Democracy Practice
10. Digital Deliberation: Engaging the public through online policy dialogues
11. Participation, Deliberative Democracy and The Internet: Lessons from a national forum on commercial vehicle safety
12. Internet-based Political Discourse: A case-study of electronic democracy in the city of Hoogeveen
13. The League of Women Voters DemocracyNet (DNet): An exercise in online civic engagement

Part 4: Social, Psychological and Political Contexts for Electronic Democracy
14. A Tale of Two Towns: Assessing the role of political resources in a community electronic network
15. Virtual Distance and America's Changing Sense of Community
16. Access, Skill, and Motivation In Online Political Discussion: The democratic digital divide
17. Virtual Deliberation: Knowledge from online interaction versus ordinary discussion
18. The Challenges of E-Democracy for Political Parties
19. Social Structure and Cyberspace: Towards a theory

Part 5: Conclusion
20. The Prospects for Electronic Democracy: A research manifesto