The trend of e-democracy research

Abstract

The concept of e-democracy, although relatively new has received enormous attention in research especially with the global proliferation of information and communication technologies (ICT). Understanding such an emerging field of research with poorly defined boundaries, and constantly in the state of definition, redefinition, and evolution, is a crucial endeavor. We therefore seek to conduct a review of 158 articles of e-democracy published research, analyzing the progress in the research subject and reviewing the current trend and directions of the research. A grounded analysis of the selected articles led to the identification of critical knowledge gaps, recurring themes, and a roadmap that indicates the current state of e-democracy for development research. This will guide researchers and practitioners in this emerging field of study.

E-State

“…Farahani (1996), however, argues that the viability of technology is not in the inherent nature of the technology itself, but on the proportion of the link with which it will have in the environment where it shall be used. There is yet to be an instance where the change from one political system to the other was directly linked to technology and in particular ICT; what is readily observable is the role ICT plays -especially via the internet-in enhancing the status quo as it concerns government-citizen relationship in democratic States (Flew, 2005;Gutmann & Thompson, 2003;Hands, 2005;Nchise, 2012;Warren et al, 2014). ICT has also been seen to enhance the status quo in undemocratic States, for instance in China where the number of internet users is over 560 million (Chen, 2013), democracy remains elusive and the internet has even become a tool for further government control over the citizens (Lei, 2011).…”

Unveiling the Power of Digital Transformation in Developing Countries: Towards a Theory of Democratic Consolidation from Inside Out

“…identified two main perceptions about the use of ICT in societal governance systems: one focuses on the idea that ICT drives changes in public administration and governance, while the other establishes a nexus between the use of ICT in public administration and transformational change in society. Although the literature does not provide evidence that ICT has a direct impact on fundamentally changing a political system, it has enhanced democratic states by improving processes and transactions in public administration (Aham-Anyanwu and Li, 2020;Nchise, 2012). Following O ¨ zdemirci and Bayram (2009), the conditions for establishing e-states consider the definitions of e-government (GOV ICT Usage), e-citizens (Individuals ICT Usage), and e-business (Business ICT Usage) as com-ponents for improving management processes between the public and private sector, and citizens.…”