Electronic Voting and Democracy A Comparative Analysis

by Kersting, Norbert; Baldersheim, Harald

• ISBN13: 9781403936783
• ISBN10: 1403936781
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-03-02
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Electronic and Internet voting has become increasingly widespread in recent years, but which countries are the leaders of the movement and who lags behind? Is the digital divide likely to present a permanent challenge to electronic democracy? What are the experiences with regard to online voting, and what are the arguments for and against? Electronic Voting and Democracy examines these issues and the contexts in which they are played out, such as problems of legitimacy and the practical considerations that have driven some countries toward electronic voting faster than others.

Author Biography

Norbert Kersting is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Marburg, Germany. He has also coordinated large-scale research programmes on political participation and democratization. He has published extensively on public sector reform and new instruments of participation in a comparative perspective. He is a member of the board of the standing research committee on local government in the International Association of Political Science.
Harald Baldersheim is Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo, Norway. He has published extensively on leadership and innovation in local and regional government. He has coordinated large-scale research programmes on processes of democratization in post-communist Europe and has also studied the spread of new communication technologies in Third World countries. He served as the chairperson of the standing research committee on local government in the International Association of Political Science.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables * Notes on Contributors * Preface * PART I: ISSUES AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS * Electronic Voting and Democratic Issues: An Introduction* Cyber Citizens: Mapping Internet Access and Digital Divides in Western Europe * Online Democracy: Is it Viable? Is it Desirable? Internet Voting and Normative Democratic Theory * PART II: COUNTRY STUDIES * Electronic Voting in the United States: At the Leading Edge or Lagging Behind? * Electronic Voting in Switzerland * Electronic Voting in Estonia * Electronic Voting in Austria: Current State of Public Internet Elections * Electronic Voting in Finland: The Internet and its Political Applications * Electronic Voting in Germany: Political Elections Online - Utopia or the Future? * Electronic Democracy in Sweden: Hare or Tortoise? * Electronic Voting in the United Kingdom: Lessons and Limitations from the UK Experience* PART II: STUDIES ON ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION AND DIGITAL DIVIDES * Will New Technology Boost Turnout? Evaluating Experiments in UK Local Elections* Citizen Attitudes About Online Voting * Digital Democracy Comes of Age: Internet Voting and the 2000 Arizona Democratic Primary Election * Internet Voting Behaviour: Lessons from a German Local Election * PART IV: CONCLUSIONS Adopting Electronic Voting: Context Matters

List of Figures and Tables * Notes on Contributors * Preface * PART I: ISSUES AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS * Electronic Voting and Democratic Issues: An Introduction* Cyber Citizens: Mapping Internet Access and Digital Divides in Western Europe * Online Democracy: Is it Viable? Is it Desirable? Internet Voting and Normative Democratic Theory * PART II: COUNTRY STUDIES * Electronic Voting in the United States: At the Leading Edge or Lagging Behind? * Electronic Voting in Switzerland * Electronic Voting in Estonia * Electronic Voting in Austria: Current State of Public Internet Elections * Electronic Voting in Finland: The Internet and its Political Applications * Electronic Voting in Germany: Political Elections Online - Utopia or the Future? * Electronic Democracy in Sweden: Hare or Tortoise? * Electronic Voting in the United Kingdom: Lessons and Limitations from the UK Experience* PART II: STUDIES ON ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION AND DIGITAL DIVIDES * Will New Technology Boost Turnout? Evaluating Experiments in UK Local Elections* Citizen Attitudes About Online Voting * Digital Democracy Comes of Age: Internet Voting and the 2000 Arizona Democratic Primary Election * Internet Voting Behaviour: Lessons from a German Local Election * PART IV: CONCLUSIONS Adopting Electronic Voting: Context Matters