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e-democracyIs the internet bad for democracy? How people do politics since and with the internet is the topic of discussion. Our contributors begin with this question, before casting an eye over the latest examples of internet use by governments across the globe. Finally, we'll turn to new and intriguing efforts to use the internet, locally and globally, to facilitate solutions to political problems lying beyond the nation state. Plus: The e-democracy world map.
Wikipedia's visionless, self-selected, value-light online encyclopedia is a deformed shadow of what the global public deserves, says former editor-in-chief of Encyclopædia Britannica, Robert McHenry. Read the rest of this post...
"The same patterns seen in the mass media are replicating themselves on the internet." David Shariatmadari speaks to the Wikipedians countering systemic bias in the world’s biggest encyclopaedia. Read the rest of this post...
A directive that challenges our fundamental right to privacy became law in the EU this month. Monica Horten charts its course through Brussels and details the concerns of its many critics Read the rest of this post...
The promise of e-government is a transparent, accessible, efficient state in a new partnership with its citizens. But, asks Giovanni Navarria, could it be the model of an invisible model of political control? Read the rest of this post...
Should we despair at the power of an authoritarian regime to censor the most democratic force of our time? Giovanni Navarria sees a ray of hope burst through the clouds hanging over Chinese netizens. Read the rest of this post...
As the first international Wikimania conference is held this week in Frankfurt, pioneer Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan – who will blog for openDemocracy from the event – tests the “wiki’s” democratic potential in a bold new experiment. Read the rest of this post...
Will the era of digital networks and terrorism produce the worst of both worlds: a society of mass surveillance that increases insecurity? William Davies maps a new political-technological frontier. Read the rest of this post...
The British government is intent on making identity cards essential to citizens’ daily lives. Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil-rights group Liberty, is unpersuaded by its arguments. Read the rest of this post...
ID cards will only prove what British citizens are not. Hans Steketee asks: what kind of identity is that? Read the rest of this post...
The elections in North Rhine-Westphalia should be remembered for their far-right online politics as well as for the defeat of Germany’s ruling party, says Alan Connor. Read the rest of this post...
Britain’s government plans to introduce a national identity-card system. Are fears of state intrusion on civil liberties justified? Sweden’s experience offers an answer, reports Sara Forsstrom. Read the rest of this post...
Google is doing business with a communist China notorious for internet
censorship. Not only techno-libertarians should worry, says Becky Hogge.
Politics online does not itself guarantee more accountable, transparent government. But what can the internet achieve politically? William Davies asks how interactivity can be made democratic. Read the rest of this post...
The route from poverty to empowerment starts with the click of a mouse, says Maartje Op de Coul of Oneworld International. But can internet social projects also make markets work in their favour? Read the rest of this post...
Iran’s censors have a new enemy: the internet. But users of new media in the country are inventing ways to speak truth to power. Read the rest of this post...
When poor people can speak, the world will change – and mobile communications technology is giving them the tools for transformation. Read the rest of this post...
The World Summit on the Information Society venue was bland, the rhetoric cloudy, the chocolates consoling – but ideas and energy flowed around the fringes. Read the rest of this post...
The appropriate use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) could make a vast contribution to solving the problems of development and democracy. But to realise this potential, a global conversation is needed to match the global nature of economic, social and environmental challenges. Read the rest of this post...
The UN’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva is intended to create ways of bridging the global ‘digital divide’. But will its political tensions and complex agenda make it less of an “internet-Kyoto” and more of an arid talk shop? Read the rest of this post...
E-democracy, fuelled by new techniques like automated text summaries, is more than a tool of efficiency, customer service or good public relations – it could help create a refreshed public space and a more accountable democracy. An innovative project in Canada’s New Brunswick province highlights the benefits of continuing to experiment. Read the rest of this post...
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