Electronic Democracy

Front matter

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Electronic Democracy

Foreword

This is the eleventh volume in “The World of Political Science” book series sponsored by Research Committee 33 on the Study of Political Science as a Discipline”, one of about 50 Research Committees of the International Political Science Association (IPSA). Each volume of the series has been prepared by leading international scholars representing one of the research committees of IPSA. This volume is one of the four final volumes in this book series, all published in July, 2012, just prior to the Madrid IPSA triennial World Congress. The series consists of 12 volumes in all, published between 2004 and 2012.

“The World of Political Science” series is designed to fulfill several different objectives. First, it is international in scope, and includes contributors from all major global geographic regions. Second, each volume provides an up-to-date overview of a specific sub-discipline of political science. Third, although prepared by leading academic specialists, its volumes are written in a manner accessible both to students of that field and those who wish to learn more about it. Fourth, the books are meant to offer both a state-of-the-art overview of the sub-fields and an explanation of how they have evolved into what they are today. Thus they serve as part of a broader objective of evaluating the current state of development of political science. Fifth, on the basis of their evaluations, the volume editors and authors have made proposals for the future progress and improvement of each sub-field, and also for the discipline as a whole.

This eleventh volume in the series was authored primarily by members of IPSA RC 10 (Electronic Democracy). It is a book that is both very current and futuristic in its relevance for the systematic study of politics. It summarizes and evaluates the comparative impact of the Internet and social media on evolving global political democratic trends. Its editor, Norbert Kersting, offers as its principal argument that “the development and proliferation of the Internet has inspired not only techno-utopians, but also activists, academics, and political philosophers in recent political debates.” It explores general electronic trends and developments in the social and political spheres, and considers whether and how the main challenges to democracy in this new

8 Foreword millennium may be related to these new information and communication technologies. It also evaluates whether the problems associated with these new developments can be attributed to the electronic technologies, and whether they can also be solved by them.

The book encompasses several major themes in the current debate about electronic media, including the role played by social networks in political mobilization during the Arab Spring of 2011-2012 (Norris); the range of social networks and participatory, user-generated webs (Abbott); the impact of electronic campaigning on political elections, civil society protests such as the Occupy Movement in the US and globally in 2011; political party communication with the public and campaigning (Roemmele); techniques of face-to-face participation and open government (Wojcik); electronic voting (Hall); and so-called Voting Advice Applications or VAAs (Ladner/Fivaz). The editor concludes that “although hardly predictable”, electronic democracy has already produced 1) enhanced political transparency, 2) greater use of Internet voting; 3) increasingly blended online and offline political participation; 4) a more hybrid form of democratic participation involving direct, dialogical and representative democratic forms; 5) a more open and transparent form of e-innovation; and 6) an amalgamation of new and different information and communication functions.

A special thanks is owed to Barbara Budrich and her staff for their willingness to produce this volume in an amazingly short period of time, without sacrificing its publishing quality. We also acknowledge our debt once again to the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for its initial Development Initiatives Grant (#820-1999-1022) and subsequent extensions; to members of the IPSA Executive Committee, its Secretariat and Committee on Research and Training; and to the members of IPSA RC 33 for their continued encouragement and support.

As series co-editors, we assume ultimate responsibility for this book series and its objectives. This joint and equal collaborative effort has given us immense satisfaction and a strong sense of academic and personal reward. We are proud and also somewhat sad to finally bring the series to a conclusion at this time (July 2012).

Michael Stein (Visiting Professor, University of Toronto and Emeritus Professor, McMaster University)

John Trent (Fellow, Centre on Governance and former professor, University of Ottawa)