Att surfa på den demokratiska vågen En studie av e-demokrati och e-förvaltning ur ett demokratiperspektiv på regional nivå
E-administrationE-democracyRegion SkåneVästra GötalandsregionenCitizenshipPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapLaw and Political Science
Lately information- and communication technology (ICT) has been seen as an important tool to vitalize democracy. What kind of democracy it generates is however debateable. The objective with this thesis is therefore to examine what democratic ideal that dominates the use of ICT in Region Skåne and Västra Götalandsregionen and what kind of citizenship it brings. The two case studies were chosen because the Swedish regional level is facing a reorganization with democratic ambitions which in relation to ICT is fairly unexplored. To fulfil the objective there are two perspectives; e-democracy and e-administration, which are defined and integrated with democratic theory including Premfors´ "Fast, Strong and Thin" democratic ideals and Marshall´s three citizenship rights. Together these perspectives result in an analytic model which is applied on the empirical material regarding the regions ICT-visions, probable mapping of the ICT use, the websites and to them related ICT-projects. With e-democracy and e-administration as indicators of the prevailing democratic ideal this thesis concludes that the "Thin" democratic ideal is dominating the use of ICT in both regions, however in the case of Region Skåne with also some "Strong" elements, that stress the social and civic rights on the expense of the political rights.