*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** For full conference information and draft agenda: http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/ZIF/ElektronischeDemokratie.html From: http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/ZIF/ElDem_ai.html Electronic Democracy Civic Exchange in Cyberspace October 23/24, 2000 – Venue: ZiF, Bielefeld (Germany) Objectives of the conference Today, the Internet has established itself as a new mass medium. But although it is a medium that originated in political and military spheres such as the Pentagon, it has until now inspired very little academic self-reflection concerning the political context of its structure and development. It is almost exclusively the economic potential of the Internet that dominates interest in the new technology. After a very short period of time, the keyword "New Economy" is linked to a variety of economic hopes, while the more traditional term "information society" still seems to be rather obscure, still awaiting further specification. But throughout history, the process of forming a political opinion has always been influenced by the communication technologies that were available. The modern "media democracy" of the last two decades has been fundamentally determined by the expansion of commercial broadcasting. Today’s Net communication stands out because of its low distribution costs, high information density and a high degree of interactivity and connectivity. Given this background, the Internet has outstanding potential for the further democratization of the political sphere. This becomes evident when looking at citizen’s action groups who increasingly use the Internet to coordinate their political initiatives. The number of experiments with elections on the Net is growing as are initiatives to increase the transparency, efficiency and the "user friendliness" of government agencies by using these new communication technologies. But what exactly are the possibilities of using the Internet to support political activities in the information society? Where in particular do the democratic potentials of the new communication technologies lie? Are we really heading towards a cyber democracy, the vision of the "electronic agora"? Or is the so called electronic democracy merely a complimentary phenomenon which will have little effect on the basic forms and structures of the conventional formation of a political will? Where can we identify the dangers of electronic democracy and administration, particularly when it comes to manipulation and control by governments and political elites? And how can the standards of data protection and authenticity be guaranteed? The planned two-day conference is intended to find answers to these questions and inspire new ideas. In particular, the envisaged aim will be a pragmatic analysis of how new technology can be used to foster a better mediation between state and citizens and among citizens themselves. This analysis will also extend to how the efficiency of public administration can be increased. In the course of the conference, the subject shall be addressed from a technical, political and legal perspective. The event will be opened with an introduction by Germany’s Minister of Justice, Prof. Dr. Herta Däubler-Gmelin, who will emphasize the significance of the electronic democracy for the nation state. An opening keynote on the eEurope initiative will follow, presented by Mr. Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for the information society (asked). Afterwards, four different panels will focus on particular issues related to E-Democracy: Chances and risks of the Internet for a democratic society (panel 1), online voting (panel 2), civic exchange in cyberspace (panel 3) and electronic government (panel 4). The conference will conclude with a closing keynote by Prof. Dr. Benjamin Barber of the Walt Whitman Center at Rutgers University. For further information please contact Anika Hansmann ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
