This book is explicitly modernist at a time when many scholars have either forgotten the emancipatory promise of the Enlightenment or railed against it in the name of postmodernism. The book, broadly, adopts a hybrid epistemology that utilises the critical insights of Geisteswissenschaften Tradition (Weberian ‘Ideal-Type Analysis’) and the Habermas (1988) notions of the ‘public sphere’ and deliberative/dialogic democracy (‘ideal speech’) to advance a general proposition of democratic renewal by way of cyberdemocracy. Curiously, as democracy spreads across the world in the age of globalisation, it has also been accompanied by increased discontent with democratic systems. To that end, this book is not overly concerned with saving democracy beyond the liberal representative model, rather the focus is on how modern representative democracy has failed and how cyberdemocracy might function as a more effective model that truly represents the people by broadening participation and reflexive deliberation.

In this volume, contributors from academia, industry, and policy explore the inter-connections among economic development, socio-political democracy and defense and security in the context of a profound transformation, spurred by globalization and supported by the rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICT). This powerful combination of forces is changing the way we live and redefining the way companies conduct business and national governments pursue strategies of innovation, economic growth and diplomacy. Integrating theoretical frameworks, empirical research and case studies, the editors and contributors have organized the chapters into three major sections, focusing on cyber-development, cyber-democracy and cyber-defense. The authors define cyber-development as a set of tools, methodologies and practices that leverage ICT to catalyze and accelerate social, political and economic development, with an emphasis on making the transition to knowledge-based economies. One underlying understanding here is that knowledge, knowledge creation, knowledge production and knowledge application (innovation) behave as crucial drivers for enhancing democracy, society, and the economy. By promoting dissemination and sharing of knowledge, cyber-democracy allows a knowledge conversion of the local into the global (gloCal) and vice versa, resulting in a gloCal platform for communication and knowledge interaction and knowledge enhancement. Meanwhile, technology-enabled interconnectivity increases the need to adopt new methods and actions for protection against existing threats and possible challenges to emerge in the future. The final section contemplates themes of cyber-defense and security, as well as emerging theories and values, legal aspects and trans-continental links (NATO, international organizations and bilateral relations between states). Collectively, the authors present a unique collection of insights and perspectives on the challenges and opportunities inspired by connectivity.

In Cyberdemocracy the arguments for and against "electronic democracy" and the potential for information and communication technology are closely examined. Theoretical analysis is supported by a series of empirical case studies.

Our present pattern of democracy was invented in the days of the horse and cart, and perfected during the steam age. Can it serve postmodern society in the twenty-first century? What will the next model of democracy be? How can it be deduced from trends of change in many areas of human activity, caused by the use of artifacts of cyber-civilization? Cyberdemocracy: Change of Democratic Paradigm in the 21st Century is dedicated to answering these questions, and invites the reader on an intellectual journey far ahead, with the rear-view mirror of history engaged.

A Brookings Institution Press and Visions of Governance for the 21st Century publication Advances in information technology are transforming democratic governance. Power over information has become decentralized, fostering new types of community and different roles for government. This volume—developed by the Visions of Governance in the 21st Century program at the Kennedy School of Government—explores the ways in which the information revolution is changing our institutions of governance. Contributors examine the impact of technology on our basic institutions and processes of governance, including representation, community, politics, bureaucracy, and sovereignty. Their essays illuminate many of the promises and challenges of twenty-first century government. The contributors (all from Harvard unless otherwise indicated) include Joseph S. Nye Jr., Arthur Isak Applbaum, Dennis Thompson, William A. Galston (University of Maryland), L. Jean Camp, Pippa Norris, Anna Greenberg, Elaine Ciulla Kamarck, David C. King, Jane Fountain, Jerry Mechling, and Robert O. Keohane (Duke University).

This is the third edition of an up-to-date, multi-disciplinary glossary of the concepts you are most likely to encounter in the study of communication, culture and media, with new entries and coverage of recent developments.

Essays on the promise and dangers of the Internet for democracy.