THE USE OF THE INTERNET TO SUPPORT AND DEVELOP DEMOCRACY

Authors

Keywords
e-democracy, e-governance, e-services, e-government, information society, social media, information and communication technologies, digital divide

The realization of the idea of e-democracy is an important part of the information society, the establishment of which is a priority for the EU. The article analyses some of the aspects of e-democracy and their importance for strengthening democracy, democratic institutions and democratic processes.

Its primary objective is to determine the conditions for implementing of the idea of e-democracy in Bulgaria by defining the key problems related to e-democracy and the causes thereof.

A large amount of data was subjected to comparative analysis to determine the current status of the information society, e-government and e-ser-vices in Bulgaria and in other European Union countries.

The author has put emphasis on the essential role of social media in the process of implementation of various forms of electronic democracy.

The author's main thesis is that information and communication tech-nologies (ICT) are a prerequisite and a very important factor for the develop-ment of e-democracy. However, the use of the Internet in various forms of democratic life depends heavily on the degree of the e-readiness of the country, its efficient e-government and e-services, the sustained interest of its citizens in participating in its governance and their requirements for transparency and free access to information, its government and civil organizations, the adequacy of its legislation, the level of development of its civil society and its drive for continuous strengthening and development of democratic institu-tions.

JEL: H83, O3, H7, H11
Pages: 19
Price: 2 Points

More titles

  • OUTSOURCING PRINTING SERVICES IN BULGARIA – PART OF THE GLOBAL OUTSOURCING MARKET

    The new conditions and the globalization of the business environment in which the management of commercial enterprises operates today require innovative, flexible and adaptive management tools, one of which is outsourcing. It improves the operational efficiency of the enterprises involved in this process and enables the service providers to expand ...

  • PLURILINGUALISM, MULTILINGUASLISM IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND MULTILINGUAL DIDACTICS

    The core of business communications is the language as a means of exchange of information. In today's globalized world, most people are plurilingual, i.e. they understand and use several languages. This is due both to the development of the international trade and business and the increasing frequency of private international contacts. ...

  • THE POTENTIAL FOR ATTRACTING CHINESE TOURISTS TO BULGARIA'S TOURIST MARKET

    With its great variety of natural, cultural and historical resources and low labour cost, Bulgaria has the potential to develop new tourist products and attract tourists from lucrative markets such as the Chinese market, which provides millions of tourists every year. However, in order to attract these tourists to the Bulgarian tourist market, we ...