Communication and (e)democracy: assessing European e-democracy discourses

This chapter aims to articulate the conceptual nexus between communication and democracy, through a reflection on ‘e-democracy’ discourses. We address the connection between the ‘e-’ dimension and democracy as: [a] political concept, concerning the collectively binding decisions about the rules and policies of a group, association or society. Such decision- making can be said to be democratic to the extent that it is subject to the controlling influence of all members of the collectivity considered as equals (IDEA, 2002: 13). Recent initiatives for the analysis and assessment of democratic systems, alongside efforts to clarify the articulation between e-government, e-governance, and e-democracy, offer theoretical and empirical insights towards the development of frameworks for the assessment of electronic democracy as well. From a theoretical perspective, those initiatives build on developments in democratic theory that stress a substantial vision of democratic processes; while at the empirical level they contribute in identifying criteria and indicators for the evaluation of practices, which can be relevant for both offline and online modes. We, therefore, start by positioning societal transformations in relation to democratic practices and reviewing some of these reflections in order to identify the basic elements for a (re)conceptualization of democracy in the information age. We then proceed by investigating if and how these core elements play a meaningful role in contemporary discourses on e-democracy, through a lexical- content analysis of documents, which represent different perspectives from which the e-democracy discourse is being developed. Finally, since e-democracy is generally understood as a way to strengthen and revive democracy through the application and use of tools that enhance information flows and communication processes in society, and given the close relation between democracy and the exercise of human rights, particularly communication rights, this analysis of e-democracy discourses will identify some open issues that pertain to the potentialities and challenges of information and communication technologies’ (ICTs) applications in the promotion, protection, and realization of communication rights in Europe.