Internet democracy is a derivative term for e-democracy (electronic democracy), especially related to projects and concepts centered on using the Internet (and not other electronic communications technologies like short message services or teletext) for deliberative and participatory aims. Concrete implementations of Internet democracy projects include electronic town hall meetings or citizen consultations, the use of discussion boards on party or candidate websites and the virtualization of traditional political institutions or mechanisms like party conventions, protest marches or petitions. E-democracy (a neologism and contraction of electronic democracy) is the utilization of electronic communications technologies, such as the Internet, in enhancing democratic processes within a democratic republic or representative democracy. ... Communication is the process of exchanging information, usually via a common system of symbols. ... Technology (Gr. ... A received SMS being announced on a Nokia phone. ... A BBC Ceefax page from the 10th September 1999 Teletext is an information retrieval service provided by television broadcast companies. ... Deliberative democracy, also sometimes called discursive democracy, is a term used by political theorists, e. ... Participatory democracy is a broadly inclusive term for many kinds of consultative decision making in a democracy. ... Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now usually a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. ... An Internet forum, also known as a message board or discussion board, is a web application that provides for online discussions, and is the modern descendant of the bulletin board systems and existing Usenet news systems that were widespread in the 1980s and 1990s. ... The front page of the English Wikipedia Web site. ... In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates. ... This page is about protests. ... Look up Petition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A petition is a request to an authority, most commonly a government official or public entity. ...

While some see Internet democracy in its different flavors as the next step towards "real democracy," and as the tool that finally helps to eliminate the distance constraints in direct democracy and increase the degree of interaction between politicians and the public, others compare it with similar hypes which came with every new medium, especially radio broadcasting (Bertolt Brecht's utopia), cable television (teledemocracy) and VCRs. Direct democracy comprises a form of democratic belief and theory of civics wherein all citizens can directly participate in the political decision-making process. ... Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video signals (programs) to a number of recipients (listeners or viewers) that belong to a large group. ... Bertolt Brecht (February 10, 1898 – August 14, 1956) was an influential German dramatist, stage director, and poet of the 20th century. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house Cable television or Community Antenna Television (CATV) (often shortened to cable) is a system of providing television, FM radio programming and other services to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted directly to people’s televisions through fixed optical... The video cassette recorder (or VCR, less popularly video tape recorder) is a type of video tape recorder that uses removable cassettes containing magnetic tape to record audio and video from a television broadcast so it can be played back later. ...

Important qualities of the Internet

There are important differences between previous communication media and the Internet that are relevant to the political usage of the Internet. BlackBerry 7100t Telecommunication refers to communication over long distances. ...

Most importantly the Internet is a many-to-many communication medium where radio/television (few-to-many) and telephones (few-to-few) are not. Also, the Internet has a much greater computational capacity allowing strong encryption and databasing (important in community information access/sharing, deliberative democracy and electoral fraud prevention). Further, people use the Internet to collaborate or meet in an asynchronous manner—that is, they don't have to be physically gathered at the same moment to get things accomplished. Due to all these factors, the Internet has the potential to take over certain traditional media of political communication such as the telephone, the TV, newspapers and the radio. Public key cryptography is a form of cryptography which generally allows users to communicate securely without having prior access to a shared secret key, by using a pair of cryptographic keys, designated as public key and private key, which are related mathematically. ... A database is an organized collection of data. ... Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ...

Other meanings

Internet democracy is also used in reference to:

• Self-regulation of the Internet and the development of its constituent technologies through "rough consensus and running code," RFCs and expert boards.
• Participation of Internet users worldwide in non-governmental bodies that are setting Internet policy, to advocate that these bodies adhere to principles of open participation, public accountability and human rights.

Consensus has two common meanings. ... A Request for Comments (RFC) document is one of a series of numbered Internet informational documents and standards very widely followed by both commercial software and freeware in the Internet and Unix communities. ... Accountability has several meanings and is the subject of a broad debate among students of modern governance. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ...

See also

• Democracy (varieties)
• List of politics-related topics

• eGovernment
• Electronic voting
• Emergent democracy
• ICANN
• Internet activism
• Online consultation
• Radical transparency
• Second Superpower

Here is a partial list of varieties of democracy. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Liberal democracy History of democracy Referenda Representative democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by ideology... This article contains information that has not been verified. ... Electronic voting (also known as e-voting and including Internet voting and other online voting) is any of several means of determining peoples collective intent electronically. ... Emergent democracy refers to the Internet phenomenon of web-based communications platforms to change the geopolitical landscape to increasingly reflect more democratic principles. ... ICANN (pronounced I can) is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ... Internet activism uses Internet communications technologies to enable faster communications and coordination by citizen movements. ... Online consultations or e-consultations refer to an exchange between government and citizens using the Internet. ... Radical transparency is a management method where nearly all decision making is carried out publicly. ... The Second Superpower is a term used to conceptualize a global anti capitalist movement. ...

External links

• Beyond Plutocracy: True Democracy for America — Free online book by Roger Rothenberger.
• DirectGov Government Consultations — UK citizens shape government policy by taking part in online consultations.
• Internet Democracy Project
• openDemocracy — Global online democracy network using information, participation and debate to empower citizens.
• Relation to direct democracy — See the section "The electronic dimension"
• A Time for Censorship, a Time for Freedom — Opinion essay on how a "global internet panel" is dangerous for freedom of speech.