Download or read book Electronic Democracy in Europe written by Ralf Lindner and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-03-04 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited book is the first of its kind to systematically address the intersection of e-democracy and European politics. It contributes to an improved understanding of the role that new media technologies play in European politics and the potential impact that Internet-based political participation processes may have on modern-day representative democracy in Europe. A unique, holistic approach is taken to examine e-democracy’s current state and prospects in Europe from three, partially overlapping and interlocking perspectives: e-public, e-participation and e-voting. The authors provide both theory-inspired reflections on e-democracy’s contribution to the formation of the European public sphere, as well as rich empirical analyses of contemporary e-participation phenomena such as the European Citizens’ Initiative or e-voting practices in Estonia. Based on the presented findings, the concluding chapter combines a prospective outlook with recommendations for future paths towards meaningful integration of e-democracy in European politics and governance.
Download or read book Prospects for E democracy in Europe written by Iris Korthagen and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The growing use of ICT tools and social media significantly affects the way citizens can become involved in policy- and decision-making processes. Digital tools might create stronger connections between European citizens and the EU decision-making process and, by doing so, might contribute to reducing the EU democratic deficit. At local and national level, and to some extent also at EU level, digital tools have already been used for citizen involvement in policy- and decision-making. This part of the report investigates what lessons can be drawn from local, national and European experiences of the use of digital tools for the functioning of EU decision-making procedures and institutions. For that purpose, a review of current literature on e-democracy and the European public sphere has been carried out (see part 1 of the study); 22 local, national and EU experiences with existing digital tools have been investigated and evaluated; and an analysis has been made of the suitability of the most promising digital tools for implementation and use at EU level (see part 3 of the study). The most important factors for successful e-participation identified in the report are: a close and clear link of e-participation processes to a concrete formal decision-making process; the participatory process and the contribution of its outputs to the overall decision-making process have to be clarified to the participants from the start; feedback to the participants about what has been done with their contributions is an indispensable feature of the process; a participative process should not be limited to one event but should be imbedded in an institutional “culture of participation”; e-participation must be accompanied by an effective mobilization and engagement strategy, involving three communication instruments tailored for different target groups.
Download or read book European E Democracy in Practice written by Leonhard Hennen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-11-06 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book explores how digital tools and social media technologies can contribute to better participation and involvement of EU citizens in European politics. By analyzing selected representative e-participation projects at the local, national and European governmental levels, it identifies the preconditions, best practices and shortcomings of e-participation practices in connection with EU decision-making procedures and institutions. The book features case studies on parliamentary monitoring, e-voting practices, and e-publics, and offers recommendations for improving the integration of e-democracy in European politics and governance. Accordingly, it will appeal to scholars as well as practitioners interested in identifying suitable e-participation tools for European institutions and thus helps to reduce the EU’s current democratic deficit. This book is a continuation of the book “Electronic Democracy in Europe” published by Springer.
Download or read book Prospects for E democracy in Europe written by Iris Korthagen and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Digital tools could create stronger connections between European citizens and the EU decision-making process and, by doing so, might contribute to reducing the EU democratic deficit. This report investigates what lessons can be drawn from local, national and European experiences of the use of digital tools for the functioning of EU decision-making procedures and institutions. For that purpose, a review of current literature on e-democracy and the European public sphere has been carried out; 22 local, national and EU experiences with existing digital tools have been investigated and evaluated; and an analysis has been made of the suitability of the most promising digital tools for implementation and use at EU level. The most important factors for successful e-participation identified in the report are: a close and clear link between e-participation processes and a concrete formal decision-making process; the participatory process and the contribution of its outputs to the overall decision-making process have to be clear to participants from the start; feedback to the participants about what has been done with their contributions is an indispensable feature of the process; a participative process should not be limited to one event but should be imbedded in an institutional 'culture of participation'; e-participation must be accompanied by an effective mobilisation and engagement strategy, involving communication instruments tailored for different target groups.
Download or read book Prospects for E democracy in Europe written by Georg Aichholzer and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A long-standing and continuing democratic deficit of the European Union is detected in public and scholarly debate. This democratic deficit is explained by the complex and mutually reinforcing mix of institutional design features of the EU and it is held to contribute to a lacking sense of European citizenship and the negative and nation-oriented public discourse around the EU. It is still believed by many that the perceived democratic deficit of the European Union indicates the need for fostering a European public sphere as a space of debate across national public spheres. Moreover, there is a consensus that the new modes of political communication and participation via the internet can play a role in that respect. Redressing the democratic deficit is obviously a daunting task which cannot be accomplished through the introduction of e-participation tools alone. Far-reaching expectations of a fundamental reform of modern democracy through the application of online participatory tools are vanishing after two decades of e-democracy. However, if properly designed and implemented, eparticipation has the potential to contribute to accountability and transparency, trans-nationalisation and politicisation of public debates, and the improvement of exchanges and interactions between EU decision-making and European citizens. A common critique on e-participation practices at the EU-level is that they are a successful civic instrument but not a convincing policy instrument. Many eparticipative projects suffer from a lack of direct, or even indirect, political or policy impact but seem to provide personal added value for participants and community building.ion and engagement strategy, involving communication instruments tailored for different target groups.
Download or read book Prospects for E democracy in Europe written by Rasmus Øjvind Nielsen and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In order to make e-participation tools at the EU level more successful, we provide four policy options: 1) Stimulate experiments with participatory budgeting in relation to the Regional and Social Funds since e-budgeting produces the strongest results when it comes to impact on decision-making. 2) Expand online engagement with MEPs beyond petitions, particularly through the introduction of a public functionality for posing questions to MEPs and their staff. 3) Create a platform for monitoring Member State actions during Council decisions, since key information is simply not available through ordinary channels. 4) Explore crowdsourcing of policy ideas for the European Commission. Early-stage policy development could benefit from open and frank sharing of ideas between citizens, Commissioners and their staff.
Download or read book Reflections on the Future of Democracy in Europe written by Council of Europe. Directorate General of Political Affairs and published by Council of Europe. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication contains papers presented at a conference, held in November 2004 in Barcelona and organised by the Council of Europe. The purpose of the conference (held to mark the end of the three-year integrated project "Making democratic institutions work") was to discuss issues relating to the challenges and opportunities facing governments in Europe to strengthen democratic reform and encourage greater public participation. Topics covered include: promoting inclusive elections; financing of political parties; popular initiatives and referendums; and how modern communication technologies can affect the democratic process.
Download or read book E democracy in Europe Prospects of Internet based Political Participation written by Ralf Lindner and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Subnational Democracy in the European Union written by John Loughlin and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2001-04-05 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the result of a research project carried out for the Committee of the Regions and analyses the 'state of play' of democratic practice at the subnational level in all of the European Member states. Its initial hypothesis was that liberal democracy is closely associated with the rise of the nation state in the 19th century. The nation state, however, has been significantly changing under the impact of various forces including globalization and regionalization, internal reforms of the public administration system such as privatization and deregulation, and the emergence of regions and local authorities as actors in their own rights. these changes pose challenges for the practice of democracy and, in particular, for its expression at the regional and local level. The book deals with the theoretical implications of these changes in terms of the changing nature of the state and new regionalism. However, one of the key findings is that there is no one uniform meaning of democracy across member states and there are variations even within a single state depending on whether the national or subnational levels are considered. Each country chapter gives the historical and philosophical background to the concept of democracy in each country. There is also an exposition of the institutional expression of democracy at the different levels. With regard to the practice of democracy at the subnational level, the role of pressure groups and policy networks is examined as well as the role of political parties. There is a survey of critiques of subnational democracy. Finally, there is a survey of innovative approaches to improving regional and local democracy through a variety of mechanisms and reforms as ways of responding to the challenge and opportunities facing it today
Download or read book E public E participation and E voting in Europe written by and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can the Internet contribute to the development and establishment of a genuinely European public (e-public)? What are good practices for e-participation in Europe and how can public organisations profit from opening up their processes to a wider audience (e-participation)? Is e-voting a realistic means to increase electoral turnout and what are the conditions for the success of e-voting? These are the main questions being dealt with in this report, which is the final report of the STOA-project on e-democracy. The report includes the analysis and insights of a research and consultation project in which three scientific institutes, eleven external experts as participants of two workshops and several Members of the European Parliament were involved. The aim of the project, which went from January 2010 to September 2011, was to analyse current developments in the area of e-democracy and to relate the insights to the European policy context, especially to the needs of the European Parliament. Within the three areas of e-democracy covered in the study, e-voting is the area in which the recommendation to the European Parliament is the most explicit: Based on the analysis, the build-up of a comprehensive system for e-voting in Europe cannot be recommended for the time being. The reasons for this are primarily cost-benefit considerations, technological issues and reasons of political legitimacy. Underlying the analysis was the conviction that elections are at the heart of the democratic process and that existing and working election routines in the countries will not be changed without good reasons. Concerning e-public and e-participation the report argues that a European public sphere includes and requires an active citizenry endowed with political rights as well as with a sense of identity which motivates engagement and political concern. European citizenship cannot be based in common language and traditions but only in a sense of belonging to a political community with shared values and rights. E-participation as such, when related to relevant policy-making processes on the level of European institutions, would constitute a new element of European citizenship beyond the right to vote. It provides an additional democratic form of European citizenship which - if successfully established - could also help to foster European citizenship in its subjective or cultural meaning. However this would imply to organise e-participation in a way that is accessible, transparent and meaningful to the European citizenry. It must be clear where there are opportunities for citizens to raise their voice and at the same time it must be clear in which way and to what end e-participation spaces are related to the very core of policy-making. From what is known from e-participation exercises at all levels, participants do not expect to rule out or bypass the representative democratic structures. On the other hand it is also obvious that a lack of responsiveness of political institutions to formats of online participation leads to disappointment on the participants' side that in the long run would be detrimental to any process of developing feelings of citizenship.
Download or read book E public E participation and E voting in Europe Prospects and Challenges written by and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can the Internet contribute to the development and establishment of a genuinely European public (e-public)? What are good practices for e-participation in Europe and how can public organisations profit from opening up their processes to a wider audience (e-participation)? Is e-voting a realistic means to increase electoral turnout and what are the conditions for the success of e-voting? These are the main questions being dealt with in this report, which is the final report of the STOA-project on e-democracy. The report includes the analysis and insights of a research and consultation project in which three scientific institutes, eleven external experts as participants of two workshops and several Members of the European Parliament were involved. The aim of the project, which went from January 2010 to September 2011, was to analyse current developments in the area of e-democracy and to relate the insights to the European policy context, especially to the needs of the European Parliament. Within the three areas of e-democracy covered in the study, e-voting is the area in which the recommendation to the European Parliament is the most explicit: Based on the analysis, the build-up of a comprehensive system for e-voting in Europe cannot be recommended for the time being. The reasons for this are primarily cost-benefit considerations, technological issues and reasons of political legitimacy. Underlying the analysis was the conviction that elections are at the heart of the democratic process and that existing and working election routines in the countries will not be changed without good reasons. Concerning e-public and e-participation the report argues that a European public sphere includes and requires an active citizenry endowed with political rights as well as with a sense of identity which motivates engagement and political concern. European citizenship cannot be based in common language and traditions but only in a sense of belonging to a political community with shared values and rights. E-participation as such, when related to relevant policy-making processes on the level of European institutions, would constitute a new element of European citizenship beyond the right to vote. It provides an additional democratic form of European citizenship which - if successfully established - could also help to foster European citizenship in its subjective or cultural meaning. However this would imply to organise e-participation in a way that is accessible, transparent and meaningful to the European citizenry. It must be clear where there are opportunities for citizens to raise their voice and at the same time it must be clear in which way and to what end e-participation spaces are related to the very core of policy-making. From what is known from e-participation exercises at all levels, participants do not expect to rule out or bypass the representative democratic structures. On the other hand it is also obvious that a lack of responsiveness of political institutions to formats of online participation leads to disappointment on the participants' side that in the long run would be detrimental to any process of developing feelings of citizenship.
Download or read book European E Democracy in Practice written by Rasmus Øjvind Nielsen and published by Saint Philip Street Press. This book was released on 2020-10-09 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book explores how digital tools and social media technologies can contribute to better participation and involvement of EU citizens in European politics. By analyzing selected representative e-participation projects at the local, national and European governmental levels, it identifies the preconditions, best practices and shortcomings of e-participation practices in connection with EU decision-making procedures and institutions. The book features case studies on parliamentary monitoring, e-voting practices, and e-publics, and offers recommendations for improving the integration of e-democracy in European politics and governance. Accordingly, it will appeal to scholars as well as practitioners interested in identifying suitable e-participation tools for European institutions and thus helps to reduce the EU's current democratic deficit. This book is a continuation of the book "Electronic Democracy in Europe" published by Springer. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.
Download or read book European E Democracy in Practice written by Leonhard Hennen and published by Springer. This book was released on 2020-09-11 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book explores how digital tools and social media technologies can contribute to better participation and involvement of EU citizens in European politics. By analyzing selected representative e-participation projects at the local, national and European governmental levels, it identifies the preconditions, best practices and shortcomings of e-participation practices in connection with EU decision-making procedures and institutions. The book features case studies on parliamentary monitoring, e-voting practices, and e-publics, and offers recommendations for improving the integration of e-democracy in European politics and governance. Accordingly, it will appeal to scholars as well as practitioners interested in identifying suitable e-participation tools for European institutions and thus helps to reduce the EU’s current democratic deficit. This book is a continuation of the book “Electronic Democracy in Europe” published by Springer.
Download or read book Citizen Participation in Democratic Europe written by Alberto Alemanno and published by ECPR Press. This book was released on 2021-02-05 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the European Union undergoes a major, self-proclaimed democratic exercise the Conference on the Future of Europe and approaches Treaty change, this volume offers a new model of citizen participation to address Europe's long-standing democracy challenge, and respond to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Proposed are a set of democratic innovations, ranging from citizens assemblies to regulatory gaming to citizens initiatives and lobbying, which are complementary, not antagonistic, to existing representative democracy across the European continent. These innovations are emerging bottom-up across the continent and getting traction at local, national and EU level in a new era powered by technology. This book brings together academics as well as practitioners to give a forward-looking, holistic view of the realities of EU citizen participation across the spectrum of participatory opportunities. They all converge in arguing that, after many years of proven experimentation, the EU must institutionalize supranational, participative and deliberative, democratic channels to complement representative democracy and each other, and ultimately improve the effectiveness of EU citizen participation. While this institutional approach will not magically treat the EU democratic malaise, it should make the system more intelligible, accessible, and ultimately responsive to citizen demand without necessarily undertaking Treaty reform. The attempt to harness citizen participation to help address the current EU crisis needs the type of multi-faceted approach presented in this book. One that recognises the potential of existing and new democratic mechanisms, and also, importantly, the links between different instruments of citizen participation to improve the overall quality of EU's democratic system.
Download or read book Avenir de la D mocratie en Europe written by Philippe C. Schmitter and published by Council of Europe. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication examines a number of challenges and opportunities for democracy and democratic institutions throughout Europe, and makes 28 recommendations for reforms intended to improve government efficiency, transparency and accountability. Topics discussed include the impact of forces such as globalisation, European integration, migration and technological change; as well as issues such as citizenship (political discontent, cultural identity and protest), representation (political parties and civil society) and decision-making.
Download or read book EU Law in Populist Times written by Francesca Bignami and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-01-02 with total page 611 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A state-of-the-art analysis of the contentious areas of EU law that have been put in the spotlight by populism.
Download or read book Democracy in Transition written by Kyriakos N. Demetriou and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-22 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ,The papers in this collection, written by a cross-regional group of experts, provide insights into the causes of declining levels of citizen participation and other distinct forms of civic activism in Europe and explore a range of factors contributing to apathy and eventually disengagement from vital political processes and institutions. At the same time, this volume examines informal or unconventional types of civic engagement and political participation corresponding to the rapid advances in culture, technology and social networking. The volume is divided into three interrelated parts: Part I consists of critical essays in the form of theoretical approaches to analysing weakening political participation and citizen estrangement; Part II is dedicated to an exploration of the role and deployment of technologically advanced media, such as the internet, as determinants of changing patterns of political participationist behaviour. Finally, Part III presents findings of empirical research on the issue of political participation. Combining theoretical and empirical perspectives, the book contributes towards a better understanding of the disquieting trend of voter apathy and disenchantment with politics in the context of the ongoing process of European integration, and offers a variety of analytical tools for decoding both the emergence of alternative conceptualizations of citizenship and other forms of meaningful civic and political engagement.
