E-Democracy as a Basis for the Development of Public Administration: A Functional Approach

Abstract

Digitalization of economic entities, digitalization of socio-economic relations and property relations inevitably lead to the formation of an information society. Under such conditions, there is a fundamental change in the processes of democratization. In particular, democratization, as well as any other sphere of public life, undergoes transformation under the influence of information and communication technologies. Thus, therewas aphenomenon of e-democracy, which is essentially a modern form of interactive interaction between public administration and society. E-democracy tools enable the public to take their own initiatives, ensure public involvement in state-building processes, allow the public to exercise current control over the actions of state bodies, etc. This study examines the role of e-democracy in the formation of modern socially oriented public administration. Special, general and integration functions of e-democracy are separated on the basis of division of labor directly in the system of public administration. Special functions of e-democracy are considered on three grounds: by processes, by subsystems andby publicadministration. The general functions of e-democracy include: public initiative, public participation in planning, encouraging the public, involving the public in decision-making, transparency of public administration, public control. There is a connection between the general and special functions of e-democracy, more precisely, the implementation of special functions takes place indirectly through general functions. The general functions of e-democracy acquire a specific meaning and turn into special due to the specificization of objects, elements and processes of public administration. Functional analysis of e-democracy allows to establish the scale of work and application of digital technologies from each function, to design the rational structure of the e-democracy system in the country at the appropriate levels: local, regional and national. Understanding the interdependence between the general and special functions of e-democracy, as well as the analysis of such interrelation, allow to improve public administration, increase the level of efficiency of the public administration system, eliminate unnecessary procedures and bureaucratic obstacles.