E-Democracy: Eine neue Qualität im demokratischen Entscheidungsprozess

Abstract

The paper outlines the use of Internet-based services which support the citizen’s participation in democratic decision making. This may concern electronic voting as well as electronic petitions and initiatives. Existing or proposed system variants were analyzed in regards to their adherence to democratic principles. The findings show that hardly any of them were able to fulfil the standards required in regards to democratic voting procedures.The paper proposes an alternative system for electronic voting via the Internet and discusses its implementation.Electronic voting as well as electronic initiatives create new opportunities for the participation of the individual in political decision making due to considerable decreases in transaction costs.