Digital democracy

What is digital democracy?

Digital democracy or also known as e-democracy is a process of democracy which involves information, telecommunication and technology. This type of democracy had just developed during the 21st century. In the process of digital democracy, all adult citizens are expected to participate in planning, developing and making laws. This type of democracy covers the social, cultural and economic conditions which makes political freedom possible. The goal of this digital democracy is to improve human rights and democracy and to expand democracy.

Nowadays, information is freely available on the Internet, thus freedom and human development increases. The internet is also used to promote democracy and human rights.

In the process of digital democracy, all processes of democracy are done using technology. One day, if the whole world were to implement digital democracy on the national scale, all processes of democracy, be it the election of the head of state, head of government, legislative candidates or anything else would have been done using technology.

The effects of digital democracy

Digital democracy gives access to the electronic community to see the current political processes. The development of digital democracy is linked to factors like political norms, forms of democracy, etc.

Usually, the process of digital democracy is implemented in major cities in countries where the legislative bodies are controlled by the republic.

Digital democracy has been implemented many times in recent years. Examples were the anti-austerity 15-M movement in Spain, the Arab Spring (rebellions in the Arab countries) and the anti-corruption movement in India.

The role of participation, construction, social inclusivity, sensitivity and flexibility in political participation is important. The Internet lets the voice of every person who is involved to be heard and revealed.

Digital democracy has both positive and negative effects, the positive effects are transparency, efficiency, reduction of bureaucracy and the reduction of operational cost. If digital democracy is implemented, there will be transparency, because with all the processes of democracy done via the net, it will make the process of democracy open and responsible (no abuse of power). Digital democracy would also be an efficient system of government, because it does not involve setting up polling stations in the entire country, thus it would reduce operational cost.

However, there are also negative effects of digital democracy, such as culture change hesitance, such as the transformation from a complicated bureaucracy to a simple and efficient way of work, IT training and security, this culture change hesitance would make people refuse to work, which would then cause unemployment, which is also caused by the change from manual work to computer-based work. There is also another negative effect of digital democracy that can not be denied, which is something may go wrong in the process, as digital democracy is a man-made artificial intelligence.

Obstacles and challenges

One of the obstacles in the process of digital democracy is the gap between the people who are involved in this process and the people who are not involved. The supporters of digital democracy may give advices to the government concerned to make the gap narrower. The difference between developed countries and developing countries.

The government must guarantee that the online communication involved in the process of digital democracy does not violate other people’s privacies. This is very important when electronic voting is conducted, because the threats of electoral fraud must be prevented in this process. The verifications of voters can be done by using smart cards.

Opinions of interviewees in Indonesia

An Indonesian writer called Fayakhun Andriadi, who was also a member of the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (House of Representatives) during the period of 2009-2014, wrote a book which states that there will be a period where the process of democracy is practiced by using technological innovations. According to his opinions, the process of digital democracy has been happening recently in Indonesia. There are two basic principles of digital democracy, which are online political participation and the use of social media as a means of expressing one’s opinions. Fayakhun Andriadi also mentioned that the process of digital democracy would one day make digital political parties emerge.

The efficiency of digital democracy and the writer’s opinion

Based on Jae Min’s research in 2010, 43% of internet users in the United States of America are people are active internet users who use the internet to obtain information and/or political education, even they are active in political discussions on the cyberspace.

In Indonesia today, there is a difference between the urban and the rural areas, and there is also a difference between Java and other islands. Because Indonesia is still a developing country, there is still has a digital inequality where the net infrastructure is unevenly distributed, and the quality of the net is different in every part of the country. Like other developing countries, the internet network is mainly concentrated in the urban areas.

According to the writer’s opinions, digital democracy is efficient in developed countries and developing countries where most of its population lives in the urban areas, because the voices and the opinions which would be taken online would represent the whole country when many people are involved, whereas in developing countries and/or underdeveloped countries where only a small part of its population lives in the urban areas and/or have access to the internet, digital democracy would not be efficient because the voices and the opinions which would be taken online would not represent the whole country, but it would only represent some people living in that country.

In my opinion, the best type of democracy implemented in developing countries, particularly in Indonesia, is the traditional democracy with a manual method, because many people in still have a low education, even some are illiterate, thus many of them would not even understand the process of digital democracy. So, if democracy was to be implemented in a developing country, digital democracy should not be implemented.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alternative history: What if the Soviet Union never invaded Afghanistan?

Alternative history: What if Nur Muhammad Taraki was never assassinated? What if the Soviet Union never invaded Afghanistan? Context In 1973, Afghanistan became a republic and Zahir Shah abdicated. Then in 1978, the Saur Revolution happened, when there was a coup d'état led by PDPA under Nur Muhammad Taraki against the republican government led by Daoud Khan. In 1979, Nur Muhammad Taraki was assassinated after he went off the aeroplane in Kabul after returning from Moscow. Because of the assassination of Nur Muhammad Taraki, the USSR invaded Afghanistan. After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, hardline Islamic organisations allegedly funded by Saudi Arabia waged jihad against the communist government. In 1992, the Taliban, a political party formed by hardline Islamic organisations allegedly funded by Saudi Arabia began to gain inroads into Afghanistan. In the 1990s, the Taliban came into power by forcing their radial values to be implemented in Afghanistan. In 2001, the USA invade
Read more

Alternative history: What if Franz Ferdinand was never assassinated?

Alternative history: What if Franz Ferdinand was never assassinated? Context World War I began in 1914. The main cause of it was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by a student of Slavic descent due to discontent over the rule of Austria-Hungary on the Slavic lands. After Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, conflict between imperialist states (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey) and nationalist states (France, Britain, Russia, Serbia, Belgium, Montenegro, Japan, Italy, Romania, Portugal, Hicaz, China, Greece and Siam), which intensified into a worldwide conflict and became World War I. During World War I, the imperialist states lost, then the treaty of Versailles was ratified to end the conflict, which made some German politicians, including Adolf Hitler, disappointed. But what if the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was just an unsuccessful attempt? Skenario During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, nationalism as an ideology had been spreading throughout the w
Read more

Liyangan

Liyangan adalah sebuah situs arkeologi di Kabupaten Temanggung, Jawa Tengah yang terdiri dari candi Hindu dan reruntuhan pemukiman kuno. Situs Liyangan terletak di sebelah barat Gunung Sindoro. Situs Liyangan mendapatkan namanya dari desa dimana situs tersebut berada. Situs Liyangan ditemukan pada tahun 2008.   Di Liyangan, terdapat jejak peradaban yang telah bertumbuh dari fase ke fase sejak abad ke-6 Masehi yang kemudian terkubur akibat erupsi Gunung Sindoro pada abad ke-11 Masehi. Situs Liyangan dikaitkan dengan Layang oleh sebagian arkeolog, dimana Layang merupakan daerah kekuasaan Rakai Layang Dyah Tlodhong. Kalaupun benar, situs Liyangan merupakan daerah kekuasaan watak (daerah otonom) yang dipimpin oleh Dyah Tlodhong, raja Mataram. Rakai Dyah Tlodhong kemudian diangkat menjadi putra mahkota setelah menjadi penguasa di watak Layang saat dia menggantikan Mpu Daksa yang merebut singgasana dari kekuasaan Balitung. Pemerintahan Dyah Tlodhong ditandai dengan adanya pembangu
Read more