E-democracy

Electronic direct democracy is a form of direct democracy in which modern communication media are used to ameliorate the bureaucracy involved with referenda on many issues. Many advocates think that also important to this notion are technological enhancements to the deliberative process. Electronic direct democracy is sometimes referred to as EDD (many other names are used for what is essentially the same concept). EDD requires the ability to register votes on issues electronically. As in a direct democracy, in an EDD citizens would have the right to vote on legislation before parliament, auth ...

See also:

E-democracy, E-democracy - Practical issues with e-democracy, E-democracy - Internet as political medium, E-democracy - Pros and cons, E-democracy - Electronic direct democracy, E-democracy - Differences from direct democracy, E-democracy - Relevant external links

Read more here: » E-democracy: Encyclopedia II - E-democracy - Electronic direct democracy

A ballot is a device (originally a small ball - see blackball) used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use either pre-printed or electronic ballots, in a wide variety of designs. The voter casts their ballot in a box at a Polling Station. Ballot - Types of choices. Depending on the type of voting sy ...

Including:

• Ballot - Types of choices
• Ballot - Ballot design

Read more here: » Ballot: Encyclopedia - Ballot

Depending on the type of voting system used in the election, different ballots may be used. Ranked ballots allow voters to rank candidates in order, while ballots for first-past-the-post systems only allow voters to select one candidate. In party-list systems, lists may be open or closed. The United States has a unique politics of the long and short ballot. Before the Civil War, it was widely believed that democracy was enhanced by multiplying the number of elective offices to include such comparatively minor posts as the state-level ...

See also:

Ballot, Ballot - Types of choices, Ballot - Ballot design

Read more here: » Ballot: Encyclopedia II - Ballot - Types of choices

This method has been implemented in the Wikipedia itself, in the Indymedia network [1], and in many similar Internet related projects. It could arguably be claimed to exist outside of the Internet in small cohesive social groups where information is rapidly exchanged and difficult to conceal, although the cumulative transmission error of oral communication of information in these communities leads to less transparency than digital communication. A partial form of radical transparency has existed in many national parliaments since the ...

See also:

Radical transparency, Radical transparency - Empirical tests, Radical transparency - Radical transparency vs. accountability

Read more here: » Radical transparency: Encyclopedia II - Radical transparency - Empirical tests

Some people describing themselves as hacktivists have taken to defacing websites for political reasons, such as attacking and defacing government websites as well as web sites of groups who oppose their ideology. Others, such as Oxblood Ruffin (the "foreign affairs minister" of Hacktivismo), have argued forcefully against definitions of hacktivism that include web defacements or denial-of-service attacks ([1]). Depending on who is using the term, hacktivism can be a politically constructive form of civil disobedience or an anarchic ge ...

See also:

Hacktivism, Hacktivism - Controversy, Hacktivism - Notable hacktivist events, Hacktivism - Quotes

Read more here: » Hacktivism: Encyclopedia II - Hacktivism - Controversy

Essentially, the smart mob is a practical implementation of collective intelligence. According to Rheingold, examples of smart mobs are the street protests organized by the anti-globalization movement. Other examples include: eBay — a collection of users who are empowered by the Internet and eBay to buy and sell and maintain the quality control over all transactions through the rating system. People can leave positive, negative or neutral feedback, depending on how they felt about their transaction with that seller. ...

See also:

Smart mob, Smart mob - Examples

Read more here: » Smart mob: Encyclopedia II - Smart mob - Examples

Electronic voting - Direct Recording Electronic. Main article: DRE voting machines Direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines are often favored because they can incorporate assistive technologies for handicapped people, allowing them to vote without involving another person in the process. However, most DRE's do not keep a voter verifiable paper ballot for re-counts and audits, making them arguably the least secure of all voting systems invented to date. Elec ...

See also:

Electronic voting, Electronic voting - Overview, Electronic voting - Opposition to Electronic Voting, Electronic voting - Types of systems, Electronic voting - Direct Recording Electronic, Electronic voting - Mark-sense optical scan voting, Electronic voting - Punch card voting, Electronic voting - Internet voting, Electronic voting - Telephone voting, Electronic voting - Advantages of electronic voting, Electronic voting - Problems with electronic voting, Electronic voting - Recommendations for improvement

Read more here: » Electronic voting: Encyclopedia II - Electronic voting - Types of systems

Michael Shamos devised the Six Commandments of Electronic Voting [19]. Although stated humorously, the assertions made are intended to be taken seriously. The commandments are in estimated order of importance, judged by statutes and willingness of election officials to compromise on the various requirements. Thou shalt keep each voter's choices an inviolable secret. Thou shalt allow each eligible voter to vote only once, and only for those offices for which she* is authorized to cast a vote. (*Recall that women now cons ...

See also:

Electronic voting, Electronic voting - Overview, Electronic voting - Opposition to Electronic Voting, Electronic voting - Types of systems, Electronic voting - Direct Recording Electronic, Electronic voting - Mark-sense optical scan voting, Electronic voting - Punch card voting, Electronic voting - Internet voting, Electronic voting - Telephone voting, Electronic voting - Advantages of electronic voting, Electronic voting - Problems with electronic voting, Electronic voting - Recommendations for improvement

Read more here: » Electronic voting: Encyclopedia II - Electronic voting - Recommendations for improvement

Radical transparency is much more transparent than accountability. It requires decision making to be transparent right from the beginning of the decision making process, while accountability is a process of verifying the quality of decisions or actions after they have been taken. This difference implies that while accountability generally implements some sort of punishment mechanism against individuals or institutions judged to have taken poor quality decisions or actions, after those decisions have been taken or actions carried out, ...

See also:

Radical transparency, Radical transparency - Empirical tests, Radical transparency - Radical transparency vs. accountability

Read more here: » Radical transparency: Encyclopedia II - Radical transparency - Radical transparency vs. accountability

Electronic voting can be used by the electorate in elections and or referendums/preferendums, and/or it can be used by the elected representatives in parliaments. Electronic voting systems for electorates have been in use since the 1960s[1] when punch card systems debuted. The newer mark-sense ballots allow a computer to count a voter's mark with an optical sensor. Internet and telephone voting systems have gained popularity for non-governmental purposes since the 1980s but, due to security problems, have so far been applied for government elections an ...

See also:

Electronic voting, Electronic voting - Overview, Electronic voting - Opposition to Electronic Voting, Electronic voting - Types of systems, Electronic voting - Direct Recording Electronic, Electronic voting - Mark-sense optical scan voting, Electronic voting - Punch card voting, Electronic voting - Internet voting, Electronic voting - Telephone voting, Electronic voting - Advantages of electronic voting, Electronic voting - Problems with electronic voting, Electronic voting - Recommendations for improvement

Read more here: » Electronic voting: Encyclopedia II - Electronic voting - Overview

Ballot design can aid or inhibit clarity in an election. A poor design leads to confusion and potentially chaos if large numbers of voters spoil or mismark a ballot. The so-called butterfly ballot used in Florida in the U.S. presidential election, 2000 led to widespread allegations of mismarked ballots. Some political scientists prefer a more explicit statement of the voter's actual tolerances and preferences, and believe that failure to reflect these in ballot design and voting system alternatives actually causes many p ...

See also:

Ballot, Ballot - Types of choices, Ballot - Ballot design

Read more here: » Ballot: Encyclopedia II - Ballot - Ballot design

People for the American Way cites as the principal advantages of electronic voting: Each machine can easily be programmed to display ballots in different languages. Machines can be made fully accessible for persons with disabilities. [7] The advantage with respect to ballots in different languages appears to be unique to electronic voting. For example, King County, Washington's demographics require them under U.S. federal election law to provide ballot access in Chinese, although only 24 people in the coun ...

See also:

Electronic voting, Electronic voting - Overview, Electronic voting - Opposition to Electronic Voting, Electronic voting - Types of systems, Electronic voting - Direct Recording Electronic, Electronic voting - Mark-sense optical scan voting, Electronic voting - Punch card voting, Electronic voting - Internet voting, Electronic voting - Telephone voting, Electronic voting - Advantages of electronic voting, Electronic voting - Problems with electronic voting, Electronic voting - Recommendations for improvement

Read more here: » Electronic voting: Encyclopedia II - Electronic voting - Advantages of electronic voting

History of democracy - Prehistoric democracies. The earliest forms of democracy may have originated in the bands and tribes of prehistoric times. These groups of people, related by blood and marriage, often assigned the most senior man in each group to be its leader. As groups became larger, a method of selecting a ruler from among the elders of various family lines had to be developed. This process began to take on more of a religious nature and could become either more or less democratic. Larger societies tende ...

See also:

History of democracy, History of democracy - Origins, History of democracy - Prehistoric democracies, History of democracy - Ancient Greece, History of democracy - Local popular institutions, History of democracy - Rise of democracy in modern national governments, History of democracy - Pre-Eighteenth century milestones, History of democracy - Eighteenth and nineteenth century milestones, History of democracy - The secret ballot, History of democracy - 20th century waves of democracy, History of democracy - Main competitors to democracy, History of democracy - Contemporary trends, History of democracy - Ideas, History of democracy - Documents, History of democracy - People, History of democracy - Events

Read more here: » History of democracy: Encyclopedia II - History of democracy - Origins

History of democracy - Pre-Eighteenth century milestones. Renaissance humanism was a cultural movement in Europe beginning in central Italy (particularly Florence) in the last decades of the 14th century. It revived and refined the study of language (First Latin, and then the Greek language by mid-century), science, philosophy, art and poetry of classical antiquity. The "revival" was based on interpretations of Roman and Greek texts. Their emphasis on art and the senses ...

See also:

History of democracy, History of democracy - Origins, History of democracy - Prehistoric democracies, History of democracy - Ancient Greece, History of democracy - Local popular institutions, History of democracy - Rise of democracy in modern national governments, History of democracy - Pre-Eighteenth century milestones, History of democracy - Eighteenth and nineteenth century milestones, History of democracy - The secret ballot, History of democracy - 20th century waves of democracy, History of democracy - Main competitors to democracy, History of democracy - Contemporary trends, History of democracy - Ideas, History of democracy - Documents, History of democracy - People, History of democracy - Events

Read more here: » History of democracy: Encyclopedia II - History of democracy - Rise of democracy in modern national governments

Some traditional objections to direct democracy are argued to apply to e-democracy, such as the potential for governance to tend towards populism and demagoguery. More practical objections exist, not least in terms of the digital divide between those with access to the media of e-democracy (mobile phones and Internet connections) and those without, as well as the opportunity cost of expenditure on e-democracy innovations. Contemporary technologies such as electronic mailing lists, peer-to-peer networks, collaborative software, wikis, ...

See also:

E-democracy, E-democracy - Practical issues with e-democracy, E-democracy - Internet as political medium, E-democracy - Pros and cons, E-democracy - Electronic direct democracy, E-democracy - Differences from direct democracy, E-democracy - Relevant external links

Read more here: » E-democracy: Encyclopedia II - E-democracy - Pros and cons

The Internet is viewed as a platform and delivery medium for tools that help to eliminate some of the distance constraints in direct democracy; its use is discussed in the context of Internet democracy. Technical media for e-democracy can be expected to extend to mobile technologies such as phones. There are important differences between previous communication media and the Internet that are relevant to the Internet as a political medium. Most importantly the Internet is a many-to-many communication medium where radio/televisio ...

See also:

E-democracy, E-democracy - Practical issues with e-democracy, E-democracy - Internet as political medium, E-democracy - Pros and cons, E-democracy - Electronic direct democracy, E-democracy - Differences from direct democracy, E-democracy - Relevant external links

Read more here: » E-democracy: Encyclopedia II - E-democracy - Internet as political medium

The challenge for governments and bureaucracies, as well as for individuals and groups, is to develop tools and adapt processes so as to meet the aspirations of e-democracy. There are numerous practical and theoretical issues which have yet to be scoped, understood or solved, and work is underway in many democracies on a wide and diverse set of experiments and trials to test approaches and techniques. One major problem which needs to be overcome for e-democracy to be a success is that of citizen ID. For secure elections and other secu ...

See also:

E-democracy, E-democracy - Practical issues with e-democracy, E-democracy - Internet as political medium, E-democracy - Pros and cons, E-democracy - Electronic direct democracy, E-democracy - Differences from direct democracy, E-democracy - Relevant external links

Read more here: » E-democracy: Encyclopedia II - E-democracy - Practical issues with e-democracy