Title: Does e-governance facilitate citizen empowerment in democracies? A critical discourse analysis

Authors: Bardo Fraunholz, Chandana Unnithan

Addresses: Faculty of Business and Law, School of Information Systems, Deakin University, 221, Burwood Highway, Burwood, Melbourne, Victoria 3125, Australia. ' Faculty of Business and Law, School of Information Systems, Deakin University, 221, Burwood Highway, Burwood, Melbourne, Victoria 3125, Australia

Abstract: E-governance is professed to be a facilitator for citizen empowerment in both developed and developing democracies. Governments believe that being accessible online with no time barriers facilitates uniform services delivery, increasing the reach in developing democracies, while re-engaging passive citizens in developed democracies. Examining varied selected examples, in this paper, we take a closer look at this perception of e-governance being a catalyst in empowering citizens in democracies, through a critical discourse analysis. We focus on the elections and related issues, in particular, amongst some nations, as this process is regarded as crucial for the existence of democracies.

Keywords: democracy; citizen empowerment; e-governance; electronic governance; web 2.0; elections.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEG.2009.029126

International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2009 Vol.2 No.2/3, pp.131 - 155

Published online: 06 Nov 2009 *

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