From M/Cyclopedia of New Media
Assignment Topic - E-Democracy
My topic for the semester focuses on the implementation of 'e-democracy' by various governments, and the changes this will reap on Australia's liberal democracy, the voting process and on social attitudes in general.
Through this, I will be discussing the types of e-democracy the government can implement, from the Athenian/referendum-focused system to e-democracy being an additional service in representative democracy.
I will also be focusing on the concerns some groups have about the adequacy of the technology and the safeguards this system will have against outside interference, and what measures are being taken to secure anonymity for the voters.
Ben Fraser 01:13, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
Annotated Bibliography - E-Democracy
Governing in the Information Age
Bellamy C., and Taylor, JA (1998) Governing in the Information Age Great Britain: Biddles Ltd ISBN 0335194508
- Bellamy and Taylor discuss the principles of an Athenian democracy, where the people vote directly on every issue. While the authors agree some voters share this ideal of direct democracy, the majority of citizens do not want such a huge change in their system - they are comfortable with the current system. Bellamy and Taylor write that in this form of direct democracy, there could be a high degree of manipulation from the ‘elite’ in society. Rather than direct democracy empowering the individual, the system may allow the powerful to manipulate the general public via the internet, or through computer attacks.
- Public participation in democracy could be enhanced by the internet technology in a representative democracy, however, where that technology allows for electronic communities to develop, where people of similar beliefs can gather. Bellamy and Taylor suggest this could result in the further strengthening of the civic culture and help create interest in the democracy system.
- This book will be useful in my research, as it will allow me to view the cultural effect of the internet revolution, without going into the technical aspects as much as the other resources.
Ben Fraser 10:24, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
Connecting Parliament to the Public Via the Internet
Coleman, S (2004) ‘Connecting Parliament to the Public Via the Internet: Two case studies of online consultations’ Information Communication & Society, vol 7 no 1, pp 3-22. ISSN 1468-4462.
- This article focuses primarily on a form of citizen participation in representative democracies through online consultations. The internet could enhance communication between the leaders and the public and influence government policy.
- Coleman believes that traditional mass media communication (such as television or newspapers) did not suit the needs of the public, as there was only one-way communication.
- The article focused on two case studies from Britain, where the participants in the online discussions where predominantly those who:
- Were not members of a political party;
- Would not normally have participated in a consultation;
- Were interested in interacting with MPs.
- Therefore, the consultations allowed the MPs to gain information from those who would not normally have given evidence.
- While some participants in the consultation were not happy with the level of involvement of the MPs, they formed relationships with each other constitutents which have created electronic communities, just as Bellamy and Taylor suggested (see above).
- This article shows the less revolutionary uses for e-democracy (as part of a representative democracy framework), and will allow my assignment to focus on the immediate uses of e-democracy in contemporary society.
Ben Fraser 10:30, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
E-Voting: Elections via the Internet?
Dixon, N (2001) E-Voting: Elections via the Internet? [Online] Available at: http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Parlib/Publications_pdfs/books/rbr0101nd.pdf. [Accessed 11 August 2004]
- This article relates to the social, cultural and legal issues involving elections for representatives over the internet. The beginning of the article focuses on the cultural experience of voting on election day, and moves through the various security and cost issues associated with setting up a completely new and secure browser for web voting.
- The ‘digital divide’ question is also raised here, with Dixon suggesting that the Commonwealth and state’s programs to redress the inequity of computer access for those in rural areas, unable to afford a computer or disabled Australians must be implemented before wide-ranging e-democracy can exist.
- Dixon also provides information relating to the Australian Capital Territory’s e-voting initiative, which would implement computerised voting at the polling booths in that territory.
- This article suggests Australians are unwilling to change the voting system, because they are unfamiliar with e-democracy. Dixon suggests that in order for the internet voting system to be accepted by Australians, there must be a gradual move towards using electronic voting.
- This article would be valuable as a resource to discuss the future of internet voting in a contemporary sense (with the use of e-voting in the ACT) and in the future.
Ben Fraser 10:41, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
Virtual Politics: How the Internet is Transforming Democracy
Franke-Ruta, G., (2003) ‘Virtual Politics: How the Internet is Transforming Democracy’, The American Prospect [online], vol 14, no 9, pp A6-A8. Available: Informit database. [Accessed 7 August 2004]
- Franke-Ruta explores the internet as the new media from which we disseminate political information and support candidates. The internet helps create new elctronic communities where television has broken them up.
- Interractivity is the most attractive feature of the internet to voters, Franke-Ruta suggests. The internet has been utilised by political leaders. Former Presidential candidate Howard Dean used the internet as a means of attracting volunteers and campaign contributions from net users. Other politicians, such as the Democratic President candidate Senator John Kerry and former Californian Governor Gray Davis also used the same style of internet site to gain grassroots support.
- Franke-Ruta sees the internet as the new social meeting ground, where online communities are created by like-minded people who have the same interests or believe in the same ideals – as occurred with Howard Dean’s web site.
- This article will be valuable for my topic, as the article allows the current online arms of the political campaigns enhancing support for a candidate, and thereby, being the first practical application of e-democracy.
Ben Fraser 10:44, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
Challenge and Promise of E-democracy
Kane, J., and Patapan, H., (2004) ‘Challenge and Promise of E-democracy’ Griffith Review [Online], no 3 Autumn 2004 pp 201-7. Available: Informit database. [Accessed 7 August 2004]
- This article explores the development of voter access to their elected representatives. Kane and Patapan (2004) suggest constituents now want greater involvement in political affairs, rather than allow their representatives to make decisions for them.
- In particular, Kane and Patapan examine the now closed web site generated by Mark Latham, who attempted to give his constituents a voice in the parliament by conducting internet polling on his web site and acting on those polls. The article examines how this ‘direct representation’ was doomed to fail, due to the influence of party politics.
- There is also a brief examination of the merits of the Athenian style of democracy.
- Kane and Patapan suggest the the current system is popular with Australian voters and any drastic change will be viewed with suspicion, but also that direct involvement by the public in representative votes will not always achieve the desired outcome.
- This resource will be useful, as Kane and Patapan help outline the various problems with internet polling and they use direct examples from the Australian political environment to make their point.
Ben Fraser 10:48, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
Overhauling Australian Democracy: The Benefits and Burdens of Internet Voting
Mercurio, B (2003) ‘Overhauling Australian Democracy: The Benefits and Burdens of Internet Voting’ University of Tasmania Law Review, vol 21(2) pp23-65 [Online]. Available through the Informit database. [Accessed 7 August 2004]
- Mercurio makes the argument that e-voting may be inevitable, as there is an increased emphasis on inter-connectivity online - for example internet shopping. The article also lists a complete set of benefits and problems associated with e-democracy, and weighs them up in an Australian context.
- Mercurio suggests that the best way to integrate e-voting into the public consciousness is to ensure there is development of the technology to
- “guarantee the level of security, authentication, privacy and accuracy that democratic elections [demand]�. (at 57)
- If internet voting is to be accepted, Mercurio states that the change must be gradual, in a two stage approach. The first stage is to have e-voting machines placed into polling booths, to allow people to get used to the technology in a familiar environment. The second stage is introducing a web page on which voters could vote.
- This article is a good resource, because it will allow me to have a basis for the main issues relating to internet voting.
Ben Fraser 09:15, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
Security Considerations for Remote Electronic Voting
Rubin, A (2000) Security Considerations for Remote Electronic Voting over the Internet [Online] Available: http://www.avirubin.com/e-voting.security.html [Accessed 11 August 2004]
- This article explores the security issues associated with any internet activity and putting them into the voting context. Rubin describes the variety of ways a computer could be infiltrated\: through the use of viruses, downloads, or through bombarding the particular site with requests for information until the site shuts down. Any of these attacks would undermine the people’s trust in the system, and therefore the democratic system.
- Rubin suggests that unless adequate security systems are adopted by the majority of PC users, e-voting cannot be initiated.
- The need for e-democracy will not however drive technological innovation in this area - the technology will first develop in the e-commerce arena, and be adopted for e-democracy.
- This article is a frank account of the dangers that await unsecured PCs, and is an excellent resource for this topic as it will allow my assignment to have some of the technical details of the previous attacks on computers.
Ben Fraser 10:59, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
E-Democracy and Election Campaigns
Sampford, K (2001) E-Democracy and Election Campaigns: Recent Case Studies From USA and Developments In Australia [Online] Available: http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Parlib/Publications_pdfs/books/rbr0201ks.pdf. [Accessed 11 August 2004]
- This resource is a background information paper, and evaluates the success of e-democracy around the world. Sampford examines a variety of different e-democracy projects, some of which include the substantial trials occurring in America (such as the Arizona Democratic Primary or the Minnesota e-democracy project) and the Scottish parliament.
- In these cases there was an increase in representative-constituent discussions, and the e-petitions filed were also of value in getting voter concerns to their parliamentarians. The resource also suggests that political portals and other online news organisations are popular for voters to receive policy information from the candidates.
- Further, this article discusses the legislative arrangements that must be altered to extend current electoral laws to e-democracy resources.
- This article will be important to my topic, as it explores each issue which must be considered when decided what type (if any) of e-democracy will be implemented, including any important legal changes which must occur.
Ben Fraser 11:06, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
Hacking Democracy: the work of the Global Citizen
Stockwell, S,. (2001) ‘Hacking Democracy: the work of the Global Citizen’ Southern Review [Online], vol 34 no 3 pp 87-103. Available: Informit database [Accessed 7 August 2004]
- Stockwell advocates a complete revolution of the traditional democratic system, focusing on the Athenian model of democracy. Athenian democracy (has also been referred to as 'direct democracy') allows each member of the society who was able to vote had a duty to access information, speak their mind and then vote on a course of action the entire society took on each issue.
- While this level of democracy would have been too costly and time consuming under the traditional paper-based voting form, Stockwell suggests the advent of the internet will allow for a form of Athenian democracy to be created on a global scale, where voters will be able to quickly and effectively vote on a series of referendums.
- Stockwell advocates adoption of the extreme of proposals for e-democracy – the creation of an entirely new decision-making process based on wide-reaching referendums rather than representative democracy.
- This article is therefore valuable for this topic as it explores the possibility of having a radically re-modeled democracy as our primary form of decision-making, rather than representative democracy.
Ben Fraser 11:11, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
E-democracy Policy Framework
Queensland Government (2001) E-democracy Policy Framework [Online]. Available: http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/community/publications/documents/pdf/edemocracypolicyframework.pdf [Accessed 11 August 2004]
- The Queensland Government has moved towards creating e-democracy, which requires that:
- The Government posts issues on which users are invited to provide feedback;
- Online access to Government paper’s relevant to consultation on policy;
- Parliamentary debates broadcast online; and
- Developing an e-petition program so petitions can be created online.
- The Queensland Government is enacting these policies as part of its larger ‘smart state’ initiatives, which will
- “position Queensland to take advantage of the opportunities of the information age�. (at 2)
- The document is also quite explicit in regarding the current representative democracy model as the enduring democratic model for the State of Queensland, and that the e-democracy programs are part of that system.
- The policy also requires that the Queensland Government take steps to alleviate the effect of the ‘digital divide’, and ensure that there is increased internet access as part of the e-democracy and the wider ‘smart state’ campaign.
- This resource will be valuable for information regarding the practical application of theoretical concepts. This shows the Queensland Government is considering implementing the e-democracy program in an extensive way.
Ben Fraser 11:47, 13 Aug 2004 (EST)
Research project
e-democracy
Final wiki entries
Ben Fraser 13:29, 26 Oct 2004 (EST)
E-democracy topics:
E-democracy – definition
Electronic democracy (‘e-democracy’) is a new form of participatory democracy. In essence, e-democracy is designed to build on the traditional forms of ‘paper’ democracy, and move to having citizens voting online via the internet.
- Mention different forms – i.e. public consultation; actual online voting; computer voting at terminals.
- Mention the focus on voting online.
- How will it work?
E-democracy – threats to – manipulating votes
In this section, I will explore the issues relating to the security of the internet as a means of transferring votes. Within this section I will be looking at the spyware programs, which may be able to alter the votes before they leave the system. There are a variety of questions that need to be answered in this context:
- Is online democracy safe?
- Who will be able to read the votes?
- How can we ensure sufficient security to ensure votes aren’t tampered with, coupled with the privacy requirement of modern democracy?
- How will these problems affect confidence in democracy?
E-democracy – threats to – preventing votes from being sent
Discuss the ability of outside users to bombard the voting web site with requests for information, eventually jamming the system, and preventing legitimate votes from being recorded.
- How will these problems affect confidence in democracy?
E-democracy – threats to – identity theft and privacy concerns
In this section I will discuss the initiatives relating to the privacy of users of the internet voting web site, and the AEC’s ability to ensure that the person who is registering their name to vote is actually the one who votes. Coupled with this concern is the fear of a voter’s registry, where the votes are recorded against the name of the voter.
- How can we maintain and ensure security of votes from being viewed and recorded?
- How can we ensure any security and identification measures are effective on the internet?
- How can we make sure that identification measures don’t allow the internet votes to be viewed by others?
- How will these problems affect confidence in democracy?
E-democracy – threats to – protection measures
The inadequacy of the protections of e-democracy will be a huge barrier to implementing any form of e-democracy. It is paramount that there are programs established that will be able to ensure security for all voters.
- What are the programs available?
- How will they operate?
- Will they maintain the necessary level of security?
- Will they be compatible with existing programs and operating systems?
- How will they be delivered to voters?
research proposal 2
KCB336 Research project proposal
Introduction:
See other document.
1. Definition of e-democracy, and why it is needed
a. Definition:
See other document.
b. Why it is needed:
See other document.
2. Forms of e-democracy: Opinions given to parliamentarians online
Online consultations are probably the first step taken by many governments in creating an e-democracy. The British government and the Queensland government have both undertaken online consultations. This project will seek to analyse the effectiveness of this type of program, and decide the longer-term applications of the technology.
This type of consultation, undertaken in Britain, was viewed as a success, with more people becoming involved in the two test consultations than would have appeared in an actual consultation sitting in London (Coleman, 2004: 8).
Similarly, the Queensland government has created an ‘e-petition’ program, which allows residents to register a petition online with a local member, rather than the traditional paper-based petition (Queensland Government, 2002: 1). The Queensland government also posts discussion topics online, which allow for discussion on matters of policy (Queensland Government, 2001: 1).
Online consultations could be included in the traditional mode of parliamentary democracy. These consultations would therefore not challenge traditional notions of democracy in any significant way, which research has shown is undesired by the majority of the public (Mercurio, 2002: 40). Online consultations would simply allow more access to governmental consultations than has been previously available, and would therefore allow more access by citizens to their electorate (Coleman, 2004: 9). Therefore, this project will assert that online consultations are more likely to be adopted than the more radical direct voting forms of e-democracy.
3. Forms of e-democracy: Direct voting online
There are a variety of different types of direct voting systems, (for the different types see Bellamy and Taylor, 1998: 95-97), however this project will concern itself with the competing theories of e-democracy – the ‘populist democracy’ and the ‘Athenian’ or ‘strong’ democracy.
a. ‘Populist democracy’ model
The populist democracy model is based on the traditional notion of parliamentary democracy, where voting is conducted in the convention way (i.e. during election time), except voting occurs online (Dixon, 2001: 2). This project will discuss the benefits and limitations associated with the online voting. This project will also refer to case studies where e-voting was implemented by other jurisdictions.
While no complete e-voting system has existed, the
The reality is technology does not
b. ‘Athenian/strong democracy’ model
4.
5. E-democracy – security concerns and protection measures
Ben Fraser 11:32, 1 Sep 2004 (EST)
Hi I am Ben Fraser, and I am a second year law and journalism student.
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About Ben Fraser
I am a current QUT law and journalism second year student. I am interested in work such as the e-democracy project currently being undertaken by the Queensland Government, which may create more of an integrated and more easily accessable society. I am particularly interested in the work of the government and the law in this regard.
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Ben Fraser 10:10, 8 Nov 2004 (EST)
