Towards the enhancement of e‐democracy: identifying the notion of the ‘middleman paradox’

Abstract. The challenge towards e‐democracy, through the electronic transformation of political systems, has become increasingly evident within developed economies. It is regarded as an approach for increased and better quality citizen participation in the democratic processes. E‐democracy forms a component of overall e‐government initiatives where technology adoption and diffusion, to enhance wider access to, and the delivery of, government services, are apparent. However, previous research demonstrates that very few e‐democracy proposals survive the stage of formal political decision‐making to become substantive e‐government projects within national or international agendas. Furthermore, the implementation  of  e‐democracy  projects  is  undertaken  at  a  much  slower  pace and with dramatically less support than the implementation of other, so‐called e‐administration, activities in the public sector.

[1]  A. Strauss,et al.  The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research aldine de gruyter , 1968 .

[2]  Irving M. Klempner,et al.  Information Technology and Democratic Governance , 1975 .

[3]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems , 1987, MIS Q..

[4]  L. Johnston.  Template analysis. , 1987, Journal of clinical orthodontics : JCO.

[5]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  Politics of Strategic Decision Making in High-Velocity Environments: Toward a Midrange Theory , 1988 .

[6]  K. Eisenhardt.  Building theories from case study research , 1989, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[7]  S. Barley.  Images of Imaging: Notes on Doing Longitudinal Field Work , 1990 .

[8]  Tânia Margarete Mezzomo Keinert,et al.  Reinventing government: how the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector , 1993 .

[9]  Pamela Jordan.  Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques , 1994 .

[10]  Peter Golding,et al.  World Wide Wedge: Division and Contradiction in the Global Information Infrastructure , 1996 .

[11]  Charles R. McClure,et al.  Info-rich, info-poor: Access and exchange in the global information society , 1996 .

[12]  D. Hindman.  The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier , 1996 .

[13]  Merrill Morris.  The Internet as Mass Medium , 1996, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[14]  R. Freeman,et al.  Democracy in the Digital Age , 1997 .

[15]  B. Barber.  Three Scenarios for the Future of Technology and Strong Democracy , 1998 .

[16]  Dennis Davis,et al.  Democracy and deliberation , 1999 .

[17]  Anthony G. Wilhelm.  Democracy in the Digital Age: Challenges to Political Life in Cyberspace , 2000 .

[18]  Thomas Wilhelm.  Democracy in the Digital Age , 2000 .

[19]  K. Schedler.  eGovernment und neue Servicequalität der Verwaltung , 2000 .

[20]  George F. Gilder,et al.  Telecosm: How Infinite Bandwidth Will Revolutionize Our World , 2000 .

[21]  H. Bussell.  Qualitative Methods and Analysis in Organizational Research: A Practical Guide , 2000 .

[22]  Joachim Åström,et al.  Should democracy online be quick, strong, or thin? , 2001, CACM.

[23]  Ted Becker.  Rating the impact of new technologies on democracy , 2001, CACM.

[24]  Åke Grönlund,et al.  Democracy in an IT-framed society: introduction , 2001, CACM.

[25]  Graeme Browning.  Electronic Democracy: Using the Internet to Transform American Politics , 2001 .

[26]  Doug Schuler.  Computer professionals and the next culture of democracy , 2001, CACM.

[27]  William Wresch,et al.  Democracy in the Digital Age: Challenges to Political Life in Cyberspace , 2001, Inf. Soc..

[28]  Åke Grönlund,et al.  Democracy in an IT-framed society , 2001 .

[29]  John D. Nugent.  If E‐Democracy Is the Answer, What's the Question? , 2001 .

[30]  Bruce Bimber.  Information and Political Engagement in America: The Search for Effects of Information Technology at the Individual Level , 2001 .

[31]  Per-Olof Ågren.  Is online democracy in the EU for professionals only? , 2001, CACM.

[32]  Richard Heeks,et al.  Building e-Governance for Development: A Framework for National and Donor Action , 2001 .

[33]  Richard T. Watson,et al.  A strategic perspective of electronic democracy , 2001, CACM.

[34]  Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko.  Toward the European information society , 2001, CACM.

[35]  John S. Dryzek,et al.  Digital Democracy , 2002 .

[36]  Kirsten A. Foot,et al.  Online Action in Campaign 2000: An Exploratory Analysis of the U.S. Political Web Sphere , 2002 .

[37]  Tom Gross.  e-Democracy and Community Networks: Political Visions, Technological Opportunities and Social Reality , 2002 .

[38]  Dennis F. Thompson,et al.  James Madison on Cyberdemocracy , 2002 .

[39]  Åke Grönlund,et al.  Electronic Government - Efficiency, Service Quality and Democracy , 2002 .

[40]  J. Nye,et al.  Governance.com: Democracy in the Information Age , 2004 .

[41]  Patrick Dunleavy,et al.  Cultural Barriers to e-government , 2002 .

[42]  James T. Shaw.  Electronic Democracy: Using the Internet to Transform American Politics , 2002 .

[43]  C. May,et al.  Interaction between States and Citizens in the Age of the Internet: “e-Government” in the United States, Britain, and the European Union , 2003 .

[44]  J. Jensen.  Public Spheres on the Internet: Anarchic or Government‐Sponsored – A Comparison , 2003 .

[45]  The future of e-Democracy. The 50 year plan , 2004 .

[46]  Ann Macintosh,et al.  Using Information and Communication Technologies to Enhance Citizen Engagement in the Policy Process , 2004 .

[47]  A. van Aaken,et al.  Deliberation and Decision: A Dialogue Between Economics, Constitutional Theory, and Deliberative Democracy , 2004 .

[48]  Roman Brandtweiner,et al.  Success factors for implementing e-government services: the case of the Austrian e-government service portal , 2004, International Journal of Information Technology and Management.

[49]  Ann Macintosh,et al.  E-participation and Governance: Widening the net , 2005 .

[50]  Jean Hartley,et al.  Case study research , 2004 .

[51]  Brian D. Loader,et al.  Digital democracy: an introduction , 2005 .

[52]  J. Klein.  Deliberation Day , 2005 .

[53]  Barry N. Hague,et al.  Digital Democracy: Discourse and Decision Making in the Information Age , 2005 .

[54]  C. Gamper,et al.  Deliberation and Decision: Economics, Constitutional Theory and Deliberative Democracy , 2006 .