23 July 2020, NIICE Commentary 5606
Dr. Aakansha Natani
The 21st century began with an intensification of technological advancements in the internet based technologies and as history stands witness, the human race is bound to make further leaps (rather than going back or stagnating) in the development of the same through the passage of this century. Internet has become an integral part of the daily lives of billions of people all over the globe and this is only going to increase overtime. It is, if not obvious then, definitely smart to engage with these new technologies when it comes to reforming the idea of governance in order to meet the demands of the contemporary changing world order. This might have been perhaps the first premise for the development of the idea of digital democracy. In the last two decades itself, the concept of digital democracy has progressed tremendously.
Digital Democracy or e-democracy refers to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enhance democratic institutions, practices and decision making processes. It relates to the online activities of people, political activists and governments. There are three popular aspects that are covered in the meaning and interpretation of the concept of digital democracy. First aspect is ‘information’. The new technologies make it more accessible for people to gather documents about activities of the government and receive information being provided by the public institutions and political organizations. Second aspect of digital democracy relates to the form and equality of political debates and ‘discussions’. The basis of this principal is the creation of an open and equal public space that is able to welcome the expression of multiple ideas and demands which cannot be manifested in the rigid institutional frame of the representative democracy. Third aspect of digital democracy is the scope for ‘participation’ of people in the decision-making processes and its range might vary from punctual consultation to direct contribution.
Europe is the land of classical democracy and now it is also leading the world in digital transformation of democratic structure and functioning. Finland was the first country to make high-speed Internet access a legal right, which was soon followed by many other countries of Europe. In 2012, the New Citizens’ Initiative Act in Finland opened up wide scale channels of online participation in policy making processes. It legalized the process of initiating a petition online, wherein the required number of statements of support could be gathered both online and offline. Currently, Estonia is considered the most advanced country in terms of digital democracy in Europe. It has successfully completed digitalization of all kinds of public services and is implementing the system of internet voting in all election from local government to European Parliament.
In the UK, politics through digital media has developed several unconventional trends. Political analysts argue that social media has played an important role in shaping popular opinion about Scottish independence and Brexit. The Digital Democracy Commission, set up by the Speaker of House of Commons, investigated the scope of transformation in the representative model of democracy with the help of new digital technologies in the UK and submitted its report in January 2015. It recommended that by 2020, Parliament should be fully interactive and digital. Emerging as a new wave of Italian politics, the Five Star Movement is perfectly tailored for how digital revolution and e-participation could potentially transform the traditional politics in Italy. This party exists and operates all its political activities online only and its vote share has significantly increased in recent elections.
The EU institutions have taken several initiatives in the recent past to include various aspects of digital democracy in the legal framework with an objective to ensure good governance, accountability, transparency and wide scale communication. The major initiatives in this regard are European Citizens’ Initiative, E-petitions in the parliament and online consultations by the European Commission. The 2001 White paper on European Governance opened up the online spaces to provide public access to the official documents with the objective to increase the transparency in the policy making processes. In the same year, ‘Your Voice in Europe’ Portal was made functional to promote e-democracy through online Interactive Policy Making tools. In 2005, the Commission launched the Plan D (Democracy, Dialogue and Debate) based on deliberative and collaborative idea of democracy and it aimed to improve legitimacy of the EU institutions through digitalization of consultation processes. In 2007, the EU adopted two important communications; ‘The Europe in Partnership’ and ‘Communication about Europe via Internet’. The main objective behind these two communications was to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Debate Europe portal.
The ‘Digital Agenda’ has been adopted as one of the seven pillars of the European Commission’s Europe 2020 Strategy with the objective to explore maximum potential of ICT in democratic processes so that the gap between policy makers and common masses could be reduced. It also aims to create an engaged citizenship by developing the channels which could go beyond conventional consultations and dialogues in the decision making processes. Another significant objective of this agenda is to address the common sentiments of exclusion amongst marginalized groups and promote the inclusion of underrepresented sections of the society in the policy making processes.
According to the Eurobarometer report (2013), the citizens in Europe are looking for innovative online opportunities to influence the policy making and decision-making processes of the EU institutions. They are not only interested in e-petitions but also are quite vocal on social media platforms on EU affairs. As per the data provided by this report, over 72 percent of the overall European population and 85 percent of the European youth were using internet daily in 2013. This number is constantly rising and it has reached up to almost 100 percent in many regions of Europe especially amongst younger generations. As per the Digital Economy and Society Index Report (2019), 97 percent of European Youth (16-24 age groups) are using the internet based services regularly. This level of online connectivity amongst the citizens provides ample opportunities to the EU to use new communication technologies to foster various aspects of digital democracy.
The web based platforms are capable to conduct rapid and regular interactions which can enable political organizations to improve the quality and frequency of communication with people. It can not only enhance the transparency and openness in the communication processes but also develop a greater sense of trust and ownership amongst citizens on the democratic institutions. Policy makers, on the other hand, can take more informed decisions with the help of inputs and preferences provided by the citizens. The web based communication can not only reduce the cost of information, but also provide more innovative channels to promote the engagement of citizens in political processes. The new communication technologies can definitely help the EU and other countries of the world in improving the democratic credentials of its institutions and legislative processes.
