To “e-” or not to “e-”: Re-locating innovation in “electronic” decision-making

Abstract

This paper presents evidence from three global democratic organizations that “e-” is not a relevant modifier of decision-making concepts related to “democracy”. Defining “e-” as shorthand for decision-making skills and tools enabled by ICTs, including computer-mediated communication (CMC), it tests whether “e-” is an “incremental” innovation augmenting existing capabilities of democracy as a decision-making tool. It finds that “e-“ acts as a “radical” innovation to democratic decision-making tools by providing different capabilities than democracy. It also finds that indicators of good democratic decision-making (participation, sustainability, and impact) say little about the ability of “e-” to achieve the same desirable goals aspired by democracy.