Towards the enhancement of e-democracy: identifying the notion of the 'middleman paradox'

Abstract. The challenge towards e-democracy, through the electronic transformation of political systems, has become increasingly evident within developed economies. It is regarded as an approach for increased and better quality citizen participation in the democratic processes. E-democracy forms a component of overall e-government initiatives where technology adoption and diffusion, to enhance wider access to, and the delivery of, government services, are apparent. However, previous research demonstrates that very few e-democracy proposals survive the stage of formal political decision-making to become substantive e-government projects within national or international agendas. Furthermore, the implementation of e-democracy projects is undertaken at a much slower pace and with dramatically less support than the implementation of other, so-called e-administration, activities in the public sector.
The research in this paper considers the notion of the 'middleman paradox', presenting theoretical and empirical evidence that further investigates the phenomenon associated with potential e-democracy improvements. Specifically, the paper adds a new dimension to existing theories on the hesitant evolution of e-democracy that clearly identifies politicians as an inhibiting factor. Proposals are made for an enhancement of these processes, and suggestions for further applicable research are demonstrated.     

论当前我国政治文明建设的几项基本工作

加强我国社会主义政治文明建设，必须进一步解放思想，发展社会主义民主，建立健全的制约和监督机制，保障民众参与政治生活的权利，加强民主意识和自我约束能力的教育。     

民生新闻:传媒本性的回归

民生新闻以其“平民视角”、“民生内容”、“民本取向”而实现了由宣传本位向传媒本性的回归,赢得广大民众的共鸣。“人文关怀”精神是民生新闻的基本精神,背离了这种精神,单纯追求经济利益,就会导致民生新闻的,这样既蒙蔽了民众,也不利于民生新闻的可持续发展。民生新闻包含了培养公民意识和倡导公共意见表达的积极因素,这些因素是中国社会民主化进程中的重要基础。民生新闻的理想目标正是成就民主的社会秩序。     

论和谐秩序中民主发展的价值取向

发展民主是建设和谐社会的必由之路。但是,在发展民主的时候应当清醒地认识到,民主是有阶级性的,是具体的、历史的,抽象地谈民主是不可取的。在确立民主原则、民主目标、民主实现途径时,一定要立足国情,把民主发展的先进要求与我国的社会主义初级阶段实际有机结合起来,在和谐秩序中植入科学发展的民主体制。     

村庄规划与整治问题及对策研究

通过对新农村村庄建设中诸多问题的揭示,分析其原因,提出相应规划整治原则:服务农民、充分调研、因地制宜、公众参与等等.     

浅析民主的概念

民主无论是作为一种概念、价值追求或者是政治制度,必然有不同的解释,理论家试图从不同的角度、不同的层面阐述"民主是什么"以及"民主是怎样实现的"这样的问题。本文简要分析了民主的概念,民主不同的实现形式,以及现代社会对于民主的新思考,对民主有了一个系统的认识。结合中国的实际情况研究民主的概念及实现形式,对于促进中国民主事业的发展有重要意义。     

当前农村党内基层民主建设的问题与对策研究

当前我国农村党内基层民主建设在取得长足进步的同时,也存在诸如民主主体缺失、党员民主意识淡漠、民主制度建设滞后、民主运行机制不畅等突出问题。我们应按照"四个民主"的基本原则,积极吸纳乡土精英入党,大胆探索党内民主选举新机制,深化党务公开,保障党员监督权,创新党内民主议事和决策机制,从而使农村党内基层民主有效运转起来。     

关于“制度自信”中“民主自强”理念的科学认识

民主体制改造的政治化过程,不应局限在民主政体类型的差异性解读上,应返回到民主政体发展的自身本质上;若政体改革的内涵充分体现出时代的社会意义时,民主的理念必然通过政治发展的选择,在政体改革中得以充分体现,所以党内民主带动人民民主的科学发展观的提出,实质上就是对传统的民主政体在认知理性上的价值超越。制度自信的民主自强是当代中国民主政治建设的基本保障。正如习近平同志所强调的,中国特色社会主义是社会主义而不是其他什么主义,科学社会主义基本原则不能丢,丢了就不是社会主义。     

Tracing the emerging energy transitions in the Global North and the Global South

During recent centuries, in the Global North, every energy crisis has been overcome, sooner or later, with a transition that has led to an increase in the average per capita energy consumption. Currently, due to the environmental and social impacts of the dominant high-consumption and fossil-fuels based energy model, we are seeing some initiatives that pursue a transition towards a democratic, low-carbon and low-energy consumption level energy system. This work analyses some of the socio-cultural, technological, economic and political factors that are leading to different multi-scale transitions towards low-energy societies around the world. It examines several different cases of transition and proposals from the Global South and Global North. Furthermore, given the limitations of the local or partial nature of these case studies, we also analyse their national energy contexts taking into account the hidden energy flows. These data integrate the total energy needed to provide the goods and services consumed by citizens and indicate the sectors that should be targeted to bring about genuine change, which sometimes differ from the transition paths signposted by national governments. The specific lessons extracted from the case studies in this research may contribute to a social learning process, promoting democratic and sustainable energy models in different regions of the world: peak oil could be an opportunity; energy needs to be equitable, not only renewable; there should be more sincerity and transparency in public energy data communication; energy should be controlled in a public or cooperative way; citizens should take control of their own investments in the energy sector; energy should be a right, not a commodity; community based consumption could reduce energy consumption; and sustainable urban development should be applied in cities and towns, where energy consumers could also become producers.     

Review of Democracy’s discontent.

Reviews the book, Democracy’s discontent: America in search of a public philosophy by Michael Sandel (1996). This book has been widely read by academics, politicians and others in public life, and interested citizens, giving him the stature of a leading public intellectual in contemporary America. Even though it is a work of political philosophy, I believe that Sandel’s writings have a special relevance for theoretical and philosophical psychology. At the outset of this book Sandel delivers his often-quoted observation that the “anxiety of the age” is the “fear that, individually and collectively, we are losing control of the forces that govern our lives” and that “from family to neighborhood to nation...the moral fabric of community is unraveling around us” (p. 3). He then describes how this loss of a sense of personal efficacy and meaningful human ties might derive from the dominance in our society of the “public philosophy of contemporary liberalism.” (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)