8. Digital Age Democracy                                                                 <- Back to categories

Extreme Democracy

A collection of essays. "The first decade of the 21st century represents a unique moment in history, as the economic sphere of life has leapt far ahead of the civil sphere and a correction, a great catching up, is at hand. This is a book for people who want to use technology to make that correction happen, to place control of society firmly in the hands of citizens."

How Journalists see the Blogosphere 

The role of the political blogs in the public sphere has been debated over the past few years, with some arguing that blogs merely spread rumors while others champion their ability to uncover truths the mainstream media might have missed. No one can deny, however, that political blogs do seem to be having some influence on the news production process. News media stories increasingly refer to blogs in the course of covering news stories, and some blogs have even been credited for breaking important political stories during the 2004 election. Clearly, a better understanding of blog influence is needed.

Manifesto for a Digital Britain 

IPPR summary of the Manifesto for a Digital Britain programme.

The Network-Empowered Citizen: How People Share Civic Knowledge Online 

In this paper we explore the potential of e-democracy to empower grassroot civic networks, augment social capital and cultivate incipient institutions of cogovernance.

Transformation not Automation  

This report examines the approaches to e-government of six countries Sweden, France, Canada, USA, Australia and the UK. It uses the lessons of the first five to present a detailed perspective on progress towards e-government in the UK. The report concludes with a series of strategic challenges and policy recommendations.

The analysis attempts to move beyond the mechanics of Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) and engage with longer term questions of governance and citizenship. It seeks to avoid the prevailing assumption that e-government is exclusively about importing business techniques into public services and treating the citizen as a customer.

Throughout the report, it is argued that the distinction between edemocracy, where ICTs are used to create new voting and decisionmaking opportunities and e-government, where they are used to improve the efficiency and productivity of public services, is false.

In the long run, public administration can only be radically reshaped if it finds ways to engage citizens and build legitimacy for its priorities and methods of operating.

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