Open AccessTo “e-” or not to “e-”: Re-locating innovation in “electronic” decision-making
Author(s) -
Ben Li
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
ejournal of edemocracy and open government
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2075-9517
DOI - 10.29379/jedem.v2i2.40
Subject(s) - democracy , icts , sustainability , information and communications technology , e democracy , knowledge management , political science , sociology , business , management science , computer science , economics , politics , law , ecology , biology
This paper presents evidence from three global democratic organizations that “e-” is not a relevant modifier of decision-making concepts related to “democracy”. Defining “e-” as shorthand for decision-making skills and tools enabled by ICTs, including computer-mediated communication (CMC), it tests whether “e-” is an “incremental” innovation augmenting existing capabilities of democracy as a decision-making tool. It finds that “e-“ acts as a “radical” innovation to democratic decision-making tools by providing different capabilities than democracy. It also finds that indicators of good democratic decision-making (participation, sustainability, and impact) say little about the ability of “e-” to achieve the same desirable goals aspired by democracy.