E-democracy

By definition, E-democracy is a type of government where citizens can participate all facets of law making, whether it is the idea process or enforcement process, equally. What democracy means to me is there is a group of individuals with different ideas about how their society should be run, and this system was established to organize those thoughts and allow each person to be heard. When people think of democracy, they think of freedom and ancient Greece and Election Day. But the internet is changing the way things are handled. It is effecting the economy, social reform and the modern day culture. It is now easier than ever to have your opinions be heard by the masses.

E-democracy also refers to using internet technologies such as social media in order to reach the public and inform them on political topics in an efficient manner. With an increase in use of these methods in the last couple of years, the voting pool has vastly expanded and there has been in increase of the public’s knowledge on a wider variety of issues. Mara Liasson talked about how, during the Obama campaign, there was a voting base that had never existed until now. This was very helpful for his win, as well as his re-election. And it is has caused the need for a sort of technological catch-up effort by the Republican Party.

In the article Connected that was assigned as reading for class, the authors discuss the concept of “a whole being greater than the sum of its parts” (Christakis & Fowler 2009, p3-15). How one person trying to put out a fire, or even 100 people working independently to do so, are far weaker than everyone working together. E-democracy works in a very similar way. Many people working separately to try and get people on board for something is going to be less effective than everyone working with one medium. Getting everyone to join a Facebook group for a politician may be better for the campaign than the combination of phone calls and going door to door. This is because, when there is new information present, all that needs to be done is update the Facebook page. There aren’t new rounds of phone calls or another group knocking on doors. The information is easily spread and not so in-your-face. I think it is a brilliant way to get things done and seems to be working well for this new cultural generation of politicians.