The Digitization of Democracy in Practice

Abstract

In the recent development of electronic government and electronic democracy, Internet votinghas sparked intense academic debates and attracted various experimentations among nation-states. This paper overviews major theoretical discussions over the topic and comparesliterature on the evolution of Internet voting practices in two countries: Estonia and the UnitedStates. We argue that the diffusion and sustainability of the Internet voting system in nationalpolitics is not the sole outcome of technological innovation. Instead, it relies upon acomprehensive institutional building of digital infrastructure that maintains public trust in thedigital transformation and charters the government action in response to security risks.