Knapptryckardemokrati
Om synsätt på IT-stödd demokratiförnyelse
Information technology (IT)Electronic democracy (e-democracy)Democracy theoryDirect democracyPush-button democracyDemocratic processPolitical system
With the increased significance of information technology (IT) in today?s society the term ?electronic democracy? (e-democracy) has gained much importance within the democracy theory. Naturally, there are several competing views on how the technology should be used for democratic purpose. One aspect of this is the somewhat revitalized claim for direct democracy in accordance with the hypothetical opportunity to finally realize it as a democratic system. The ideal of direct democracy combined with the almost total credence in the potential of technology constitute the idea of a ?push-button democracy?. The term has to a large extent been used by critics to the idea. However, it does also figure as a generic term describing this ?new? claim for direct democracy. This essay seeks in a qualitative normative and theoretical way, to assess the plausibility of the idea of the push-button democracy in relation to classical democracy theory. In excess of the debate of direct versus representative democracy, the analysis seeks to give a normative approach on how information technology should be applied. The result of the analysis consists of a number of predicted implications with the realization of the push-button democracy, especially concerning the democratic process in regard to decision making. Furthermore, it is reasoned whether this utopian system is desirable, even from a principal view. Finally, the discussion concludes with a stance of policy that information technology should be used as a mean for the existing representative democracy, rather than a goal, in order to create a different political system.