Democracy Online: The Prospects for Political Renewal Through the Internet

Taking a multi-disciplinary approach that they identify as a 'cyber-realist research agenda', the contributors examine the prospects for electronic democracy in terms of its form and practice - while avoiding the pitfall of treating the benefits of electronic democracy as being self-evident. The debates question what electronic democracy needs to accomplish in order to revitalize democracy, and what the current state of electronic democracy can teach us about the challenges and opportunities for implementing democratic technology initiatives. Ultimately, the contributors argue for a complex, multi-disciplinary approach to the theory behind the workings of e-democracy, as well as to the future development and expansion of technological initiatives to promote online democracy.