Regulatory Measures to Support eDemocracy

Abstract

Throughout the last decade, eDemocracy has evolved from an idea into practical applications supporting, and even enhancing, democratic processes. At the same time, it is a growing demand for regulatory frameworks to support eDemocracy. This paper examines the technical and political prerequisites for eDemocracy in an attempt to uncover possible areas for regulative measures. A model is used to show the internal relations between a set of technical and political prerequisites. This model can be used to plan regulatory measures related to eDemocracy on national, regional and local levels of government. The paper also introduces, through practical examples, three different approaches to regulation.