Measuring E-democracy opportunities: A global perspective

Abstract

In recent years, several case studies have emerged illustrating the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and in particular the expansion of the Internet and mobile cell phones on socio-political activities. This paper investigates 146 economies and the relationship between the global expansion of ICTs and the current degree of democracy within each nation by constructing an index of e-democracy opportunities among them, for the period of 1995 to 2005. The key findings in this study are (a) a notable progress in e-democracy opportunity on the global stage; (b) the fact that in some countries there is a rapid ICT expansion and global success in e-democracy, and yet, there is a growing digital divide between the most and least developed e-democratic nations. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.