http://www.demo-net.org The collection of scientific eParticipation references is compiled by DEMO-net members. If you want to add a reference, please select the respective content type in "add item". Please familiarize yourself with the BibTex types of objects in order to choose the right content type. If you want to import a reference, use the icon above. daily 1 2008-09-30T08:28:57Z http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Abbott2000 <p>WTO governance has traditionally reflected the interests of producers channeled through government trade negotiators. The producer-driven governance model is not suited to the highly integrated international society of the 21st century. The WTO governance structure should be adapted to account for more diverse interests, including those of marginalized developing countries, NGOs, and individuals. One aspect of this adaptation should involve more highly integrated relations between the WTO and other multilateral institutions. The inter-institutional relationship that has evolved between the WTO and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since the conclusion of the Uruguay Round evidences a number of characteristics that might usefully form the basis for relations between the WTO and other international organizations. The WTO-WIPO relationship effectively enhances the breadth of subject matter interests and the administrative capacity of each organization, and it provides a suitable forum for the negotiation of incremental and experimental intellectual property rules that: are needed in response to technological change. A second aspect of institutional adaptation concerns increasing the participation of wider segments of international society in multilateral rule-making. The WIPO Internet Domain Name Process was a unique governance exercise that employed elements of direct democracy at thr international level and the management of an organizational bureaucracy (the WIPO International Bureau). This type of process might usefully be employed in other contexts, such as by the FAO/WHO in developing health and safety guidelines in connection with genetically modified organisms (GMOs).</p> No publisher neurothc 2009-06-16T11:37:34Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Abbott2001 It is a commonly held view that, given the unique characteristics of the internet, it provides real opportunities for democratisation and political transformation, especially in societies where freedom of speech and expression is constrained by government controls. This article challenges this assumption by examining the impact of the internet in Asia with specific reference to China and Malaysia. In particular the article argues that to understand the impact of the internet on developing economies it is essential to examine the political economy of the internet-locally, regionally and globally. While the net may provide a new medium for dissent and opposition, its impact is offset by two principal factors. First, the existence of a marked digital divide between North and South (as well as the discrepancies that exist within specific countries in terms of gender, education and wealth) and second, by growing commercialisation. No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:04Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/AbdulrazzakTarik2003 The last two years have seen the growing interest in e-commerce and e-government in Lebanon. Through a review of literature and related studies, critical factors in peoples' attitude toward participation in e-government are uncovered. Empirical evidence indicates that Lebanese people are provided today with automated systems but they lack awareness of e-government. The cognitive dimension awareness is significantly related to the conative dimension intention to use e-government while the affective dimension feelings is less significant. The findings of the study reaffirm the importance of investigating future variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:04Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Abrash2005 No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:05Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Ackerly2003 Discusses insights from political theory and social criticism and the development of their import for the design of an Internet-based deliberative institution of global civil society. Models of the deliberative democratic theory; Criticisms on deliberative democratic theory; Reasons for a deliberative theorist to be concerned on the Internet's impact on democracy; Use of Internet-based communication technologies in deliberative democracy. No publisher neurothc 2008-08-11T13:17:13Z Inproceedings Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Afonso1996 The Internet in Brazil is experiencing explosive growth. Spawned by a newsmedia-driven public interest which began in early 1994, this growth has taken unique paths. In a country where the entire data communications and telephone services infrastructure is under a state monopoly, Internet services to final users are scattered through hundreds of private providers of all sizes, while Internet backbones operated by transnational companies are being installed to compete with a state-funded backbone and a state-owned backbone. This article describes nongovernmental networking activity and how it evolved from a purely academic network to one serving a much larger public No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:05Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Agre2002 Illustrates how the amplification model can be used in the analysis of the Internet's role in politics. Use of technology in the service of goals, strategies and relationships organized by the institution; Development of social networks and ways that technology is used to bind people together into a polity; Development of social networks.ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR Research on the Internet's role in politics has struggled to transcend technological determinism the assumption, often inadvertent, that the technology simply imprints its own logic on social relationships. An alternative approach traces the ways, often numerous, in which an institution's participants appropriate the technology in the service of goals, strategies, and relationships that the institution has already organized. This amplification model can be applied in analyzing the Internet's role in politics. After critically surveying a list of widely held views on the matter, this article illustrates how the amplification model might be applied to concrete problems. These include the development of social networks and ways that technology is used to bind people together into a polity.ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:05Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Aidemark2003 This paper takes an information systems development perspective on e-democracy. A case study in the area of e-democracy, a number of different types of information systems applications, is presented. These are discussed from three perspectives on knowledge, (cognitive, social, and critical), using an analytical framework that is based on some general direction in the area of knowledge management. The lesson of the case study is that full support from all these perspectives are needed to make IS an effective support to democratic processes. The analysis shows that it is not a technical problem, most types of support are readily available and in use. There is an insight in the area that success rests on a match between IS, understanding democratic processes, and peoples' expectations. The trouble, it seems, is to convert this into a system development perspective. Here findings from knowledge management could provide support. No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:05Z Incollection Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Aikens1998 This article is an account of the early history of Minnesota Electronic Democracy (MN E-Democracy). The project was among the first political sites on the Internet and featured the first online debates involving political candidates at the state and national level. The focus of the article reports on the process of constructing the project, the structure of the public forums in which approximately 700 citizens participated, and the thinking behind the configuration of the online debates, which were forwarded into the public forums, creating a successful electronic town hall. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:05Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/AinsworthHardyEtAl2005 To explore the implications of the Internet for the relationship between organizational communication and power; this article compares two online forums established in response to the introduction of a new e-organization: the Development Gateway. The article analyzes postings to the forums to explore the capacity of the Internet to foster democracy, and to investigate how power and resistance are exercised through this medium. Findings show that, rather than equate resistance with participation, as some models of democracy do, the dynamics of power and resistance are more complex, and resistance and power can take participative and nonparticipative forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:05Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Al-Kodmany2000 Computerized visualization methods offer planners and architects some new ways to support and facilitate democratic decision-making. However, the uses of this technology in public participation are just beginning to be explored. This paper describes a community planning process in which a combination of high- and low-tech visualization methods a Geographic Information System (GIS) and a human artist was used to increase public participation and draw out local knowledge.ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:05Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/Albrecht2006 One of the core elements of the vision of ‘electronic democracy’ is the hope that the Internet permits free and equal access to political debates. However, experiences with online discourse challenge this view. The digital divide being one obstacle to participation, even more interesting is the fact that online communication is constrained in ways similar to the offline world. This paper attempts to reassess the question of whether the Internet makes political debate more open to voices that are normally not heard in the political field. Based on empirical evidence from a large-scale online deliberation, it analyses who participates in political debates on the Internet and whose views are represented. The results challenge both the optimistic and the sceptical view on electronic democracy. A theoretical model is developed that is able to explain the results. It extends current research by including the cultural practices of technology use and the specific effects of large-scale communication in the analysis. Though preliminary this model can help to inform the designers of online deliberations to make the most of their democratic potential.ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:05Z Article Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/AlperinSchultz2003 Communications between elected officials and their constituents is a major concern for political scientists trying to understand the nature of representation in a democracy such as the United States. In this study the impact of e-mail on communications between constituents and state legislators is examined. Much has been written in the popular media about dramatic changes to society resulting from new technologies such as the Internet and e-mail. In addition, studies in the political science research literature have examined such topics as the use of new communication technologies by citizen activists, by state level political parties, by interest groups in their issue campaigns, and by member of Congress. However, little research has been done on the use of e-mail in communications between state legislators and their constituents. In 1997, one of the primary investigators in this current project conducted a survey of Minnesota’s state legislators on the use of e-mail in the Minnesota legislative. Since the original study was conducted, significantly more citizens and legislators nationwide have gained access to e-mail and the Internet and use them on a regular basis. To examine these changes and their impact on legislator-constituent relations over time, a follow-up survey of Minnesota legislators was conducted in the summer of 2002. In addition, to broaden the focus of the study and to be able to make some cross state comparisons, Wisconsin state legislators were also surveyed in the summer of 2002. The 1997 study concluded that at least at the time “e-mail may have been oversold as an effective tool of communication between citizen and legislator. Instead the best way for a citizen to get her point across is the old-fashioned way – send a letter or visit her state legislator.” The 2002 survey suggests that office visits and sending a letter are still seen as the most effective way to get one’s point across to your legislator. E-mail is also seen as an effective tool of communication between citizen and legislator, but only under certain circumstances. If a legislator recognizes that the e-mail was personally written by a constituent, it is seen as almost as effective a method of communication as sending a handwritten or typed letter via the postal service. However, “the problem with e-mail,” as one legislator for Minnesota put it, “is that one does not have the time to respond to non-constituents, but there is no easy, non-offensive way to sort out the ‘political spammers.’” No publisher neurothc 2008-08-11T12:53:14Z Inproceedings Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/AlsopWills2001 This paper considers whether communications theory can help us to understand better the social and juridical impacts of new telecommunications services, particularly in relation to e-democracy and e-government No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:06Z Inproceedings Reference http://www.demo-net.org/what-is-it-about/research-papers-reports-1/eparticipation-scientific-references/AndersonFelici2005 Recent developments (e.g., e-government, e-democracy, e-voting, etc.) of the information society expose the limits of system security. The ubiquitousness of information technology relies on stringent system requirements. Although new technology addresses technical problems and provides new challenges, new technology often gives rise to new hazards. In order to identify mitigation actions, it is necessary to understand diverse multidisciplinary aspects. The complexity and multidisciplinary of information technology require us to investigate new mechanisms that address general requirements (e.g., trust, security, etc.). A debate on the problems arising in particular information society scenarios would benefit from a broad multidisciplinary audience. This panel advocates a multidisciplinary debate on e-democracy: how democratic will e-democracy be?. No publisher neurothc 2008-08-06T12:00:06Z Inproceedings Reference