Abstract
Information and communication technologies (ICT) are seen as a potential cure to democratic deficits within the political framework of the European Union (EU). They are regarded as a means to overcome the inherent legitimation deficit. This article discusses the potential for democratic innovation through ICT-based solutions within the EU-framework and their role in the emergence of a European cyber public sphere. Against the background of deliberative theory of democracy, two European cyber-democracy projects are analysed and compared to scrutinize their democratic merit: the Open Consultation and the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). The authors come to the conclusion that these initiatives are successful to some extent, yet stay behind their possibilities.
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Notes
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European Commission: European Citizens’ Initiative—Official register. http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/initiatives/ongoing
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Diecker, J., Galan, M. (2014). “Creating” a Public Sphere in Cyberspace: The Case of the EU. In: Carayannis, E., Campbell, D., Efthymiopoulos, M. (eds) Cyber-Development, Cyber-Democracy and Cyber-Defense. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1028-1_9
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