e-Democracy

In Italia, vasti fenomeni di riforma hanno interessato, in anni recenti, l’organizzazione e la gestione delle pubbliche amministrazioni, introducendo strategici modelli organizzativi di riferimento, idonei meccanismi in grado di operare accurate valutazioni, nonché automatismi previsti per intervenire mediante specifici correttivi, tutti funzionali ad assicurare che la risposta della Pubblica Amministrazione ai bisogni della collettività sociale potesse risultare sempre più improntata a criteri di efficienza. I processi di riforma cui ci si riferisce sono da doversi inserire in quella più ampia fase di sviluppo e di cambiamento che ha rappresentato ragione sostanziale d’avvio a radicali modifiche degli organismi istituzionali, nell’ambito dello Stato, delle Regioni e degli altri enti locali, oltre che nel quadro complessivo
in cui si muove l’Unione Europea.Questo percorso evolutivo assume un ruolo primario nella crescita della competitività e della capacità potenziale dell’economia italiana; trattasi di una riforma ormai necessitata alla luce della attuale situazione di congiuntura economica
al fine di uscirne cogliendo le opportunità di ripresa che attenti economisti hanno individuato. Il saggio ricostruisce il percorso evolutivo della digitalizzazione della Pubblica Amministrazione in Italia, delineando i principali interventi pubblici nel settore dell'innovazione tecnologica e mettendo in rilievo la  necessità di nuove logiche produttive e nuovi modelli comportamentali per realizzare una amministrazione efficiente e flessibile. In tale prospettiva viene messo in rilievo l'ambito (e, soprattutto, le peculiarità) del concetto di managerialità tra pubblico e privato e la  trasformazione degli enti locali e delle Regioni in luoghi di programmazione controllata.

La participación ciudadana está entrando en una nueva era: la era de la tecnopolítica. Nuevas formas de organización, de coordinación, de acción cívica aupadas por una nueva ética y nuevas metodologías, y todo ello posibilitado por nuevas herramientas, espacios y actores.

No obstante, esta nueva era de emancipación ciudadana sigue requiriendo –probablemente más que nunca– unas instituciones democráticas especialmente responsivas a los cambios que están acaeciendo en la calle. Instituciones que se adapten, que innoven y que, en definitiva, se transformen para seguir siendo cadena de transmisión entre la voluntad de los ciudadanos y la toma de decisiones colectivas.

Este volumen analiza cómo el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona ha planteado esta transformación, y los impactos que la nueva estrategia puede suponer en los significados, las normas y el poder en la relación Administración-ciudadano. Supone un nuevo tablero de juego, aunque el resultado final de la partida todavía es incierto.

Las elecciones municipales de 2015 trajeron a muchas ciudades españolas lo que ha sido etiquetado como “ayuntamientos del cambio”: ayuntamientos cuyos alcaldes y representantes electos provienen de partidos que emergieron del Movimiento del 15M. Muchos de ellos, liderados por Madrid y Barcelona, intentaron incorporar a su acción de gobierno las mismas prácticas tecnopolíticas que tan útiles probaron ser para articular un amplio movimiento en plazas y calles.

Pero no solamente se pusieron en marcha las prácticas para la toma de decisiones a nivel local. También el ethos y los valores que las acompañaban acabaron guiando, con mayor o menor éxito, la relación entre el gobierno local y la ciudadanía. Estos valores orbitan el empoderamiento ciudadano, la participación, el compromiso y, en su expresión más ambiciosa, la devolución de soberanía del gobierno al ciudadano.

Este libro se centra en el entorno socio-político donde este fenómeno tiene lugar, especialmente en Madrid y Barcelona, las dos mayores ciudades del estado con dichos ayuntamientos del cambio, y cómo se desarrolló en Barcelona durante los primeros meses de 2016 durante la definición del Plan de Acción Municipal. Usando la Teoría de la Estructuración de Anthony Giddens, se evalúan ya no los resultados e impactos finales de este giro tecnopolítico en la toma de decisiones – seguramente demasiado pronto para ello – sino, por lo menos, los principales cambios en los significados, las normas y el poder que, como puntos de inflexión, pueden arrojar luz sobre las principales tendencias que estos movimientos políticos pueden estar desatando.

En la Parte I elaboramos un Documento de Política – Incrementando la calidad de la democracia mediante la devolución de soberanía – donde se presentan los principales vectores de cambio, los principales movimientos provocados por este nuevo ethos, y las claves y cuestiones a tener en consideración para entender los cambios cualitativos que, en nuestra opinión, ya forman parte del actual escenario político. En la Parte II – Participación ciudadana mediada por las TIC en España: un estado de la situación – repasa el fenómeno de la e-participación desde los principios del s.XXI hacia adelante y, muy especialmente, durante los hechos del 15M, proponiendo que las recientes iniciativas de participación mediada por las TIC en los municipios del cambio están muy lejos de ser meros ejercicios para sondear a los ciudadanos y son, en cambio, la punta de lanza de una red de ciudades para la tecnopolítica. Exploramos de forma crítica el papel de las TIC en la reconstrucción de la política en España y cómo desembocaron en los nuevos experimentos de democracia participativa como Decide Madrid, puesto en marcha en Madrid para apoyar el plan estratégico participativo del municipio, y decidim.barcelona, el proceso participativo de la capital catalana inicialmente inspirado en el anterior.

Esta parte aporta una visión general del marco legal e institucional en el ámbito de la participación mediada por las TIC en España. La primera sección describe el marco de las libertades políticas y cívicas en España. En la segunda sección se hace un mapa del panorama de la participación ciudadana mediada por las TIC. En la tercera sección, entraremos en las implicaciones de la mediación tecnológica para la democracia deliberativa y la ciudadanía transformadora.

La Parte III – El caso de decidim.barcelona. Utilizando un marco de la Estructuración para una teoría de la participación ciudadana mediada por las TIC – analiza el desarrollo participativo del Plan de Acción Municipal (PAM) de Barcelona 2016-2019 que debía regir toda la legislatura. La primera sección repasa el contexto general de la ciudad en términos de participación política digital y explica el diseño y funcionamento general del nuevo plan y su proceso participativo. La segunda sección explica la metodología para el análisis, que se desarrolla en la tercera sección.

Based on the concept of visibility and its importance to the political dynamics, this dissertation seeks to understand the processes of the spread and gain of visibility of issues in social networking sites. To perceive the political consequences of these processes are also an aim of this study, having as a starting point the understanding of
the political relevance of the public visibility sphere. We used as a case study the discourses that circulated on Twitter over three issues: abortion of anencephalic, the “Ficha Limpa” law and quotas in universities. Through the analysis of the network of users formed around the issues, their connections and patterns of replication and conversation, we characterize how the process of dissemination of content occurs on the network and analyze the political impact of it. The results show that patterns of information dissemination on Twitter differ from standard broadcasting of traditional media. The influence of social actors who already have high visibility - as the news media themselves - however, is high in this network, accounting for some of the clusters of information dissemination.

First Chapter of the Global Administrative Law Casebook (3rd ed., 2012). The book is an attempt to analyse global administrative law through the elaboration and examination of a number of different cases and case-studies. The architecture of its contents mirrors the characteristics of this field. The first chapter (States and Global Administrations in Context) examines the emergence of administrative law beyond the State and the rise of global administration. On one hand, it focuses on the notion of the State and the implications for this of the formation of a global administrative space. Topics analysed include the concept of “the State” in a globalized world; the application of this concept to the Palestinian case; and the rise of the global regulatory State in the South. On the other hand, it deals with the proliferation and differentiation of IOs, offering a classification of global institutions into four different types: formal intergovernmental organizations (e.g., the UN, WIP...

https://ar.lejister.com/articulos.php?Hash=f9d580bdec6077c2868728d8e0a1a679&hash_t=3e328165b85d67cb3e96569b3cbbd44d

En la presente investigación, se aborda la Organizaciones Autónomas Descentralizadas, desde un aspecto de representación, función ejecutiva y actos de administración en los gobiernos contemporáneos. Se realiza un estudio sobre la tecnología Blockchain en armonía con las circunstancias de participación social actual, concluyendo en un contrato social tecnológico como espina dorsal de la era de la información y comunicación.

Since the 1990’s the digital revolution has inspired the prophecies of Silicon Valley pundits that we are about to enter a leaderless society. Yet, the cyberutopian excitement about the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ has given way to an unprecedented disillusionment since 2016 at the latest. If we want to learn from this sobering experience, we must face the decisive problem: Every democracy is founded on practices of acclamation and praise. Social networks like Facebook have turned such practices into a manipulative tool that undermines the democratic pursuit of the true and the good. What can we learn from the premodern cultivation of practices of worship and praise if we want to overcome the life-threatening crisis of contemporary democracies?

Many advocates of deliberative democracy see in the Internet a new opportunity for the development of public spaces, public spheres, and places where deliberation can take place. An important element of the notion of the public sphere in general and of deliberation specifically, is the quality of the debate. In the past decade, many studies have been conducted to evaluate online discussions in light of the ideal notion of the public sphere. However, a wide gap exists between theoretical approaches and the actual operationalization of such theories for empirical research. In an attempt to bridge this gap we develop a method for examining the extent to which Internet forums meet the normative requirements of rational-critical debate, reciprocity, and reflexivity. The methodological approach consists of a textual analysis of the contributions made to an online forum. The coding scheme presented in this article is based on a case study (UK Online) and guided by the theoretical notions of deliberative democracy.

Talking politics online is not exclusively reserved for those spaces dedicated to politics, particularly the everyday political talk crucial to the public sphere. However, past net-based public sphere research has focused mostly on political spaces thereby neglecting an array of other genres. The aim of this article is to move beyond politically oriented communicative spaces by investigating political talk within the British reality TV discussion forum Wife Swap. The purpose is to see whether a forum dedicated to reality TV provides the communicative space, content, and style for politics that extends the public sphere. The central question is whether it fulfils the requirements of rationality and ‘decent’ deliberation. Moreover, the analysis moved beyond a formal notion by investigating how expressives influence the more traditional elements of deliberation. The findings revealed that Wife Swap participants engaged in political talk that was often deliberative. Moreover, it was a space where the use of expressives played a key role in enhancing such talk.

Estonia is widely credited to be a pioneer in e-governance and especially e-democracy. It has frequently been expected, too, that Estonia will be the leading country for e-voting, introducing it already for the national elections of 2003. However, in the very last changes of the respective laws, the Estonian Parliament has voted for e-voting, not for the immediate future, but only with a delay of implementation until the year 2005. Still, to our knowledge, the current article is the first and so far the only investigation into the first European case of a country that has actually passed overall e-voting laws, and a step-by-step analysis of the relevant law-making process in this case.

TESI DI LAUREA TRIENNALE - SCIENZE POLITICHE E RELAZIONI INTERNAZIONALI

Nel corso dell’ultimo ventennio, con varie modalità in relazione ai differenti contesti esistenti, è possibile rintracciare un processo globale di spostamento o riproduzione nello spazio digitale di molteplici aspetti legati all’articolazione della democrazia rappresentativa. Al contempo, il processo di atomizzazione ed individualizzazione iniziato con l’avvento del neoliberismo negli ultimi decenni del secolo scorso, trova oggi nella dimensione digitale un nuovo spazio di articolazione: nella società in rete, che fine fa l’individuo? In quale misura assume centralità proprio la figura dell’individuo-utente-consumatore isolato all’interno dei meccanismi di “partecipazione” politica? E quali possono essere delle strategie da praticare, dal punto di vista economico e giurisprudenziale, per democratizzare la rete?

Abstract: First Chapter of the Global Administrative Law Casebook (3rd ed., 2012). The book is an attempt to analyse global administrative law through the elaboration and examination of a number of different cases and case-studies. The architecture of its contents mirrors the characteristics of this field.

The emergence of the blockchain phenomenon affects various aspects of human life. Public sector reforms are also influenced by this trend. E-government leaders around the world are tentatively beginning to grasp the potential of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies, especially with regard to their promise to provide more decentralized information management solutions in government and make public digital platforms more transparent and efficient. Software developers around the world have come up with a range of digital solutions to accelerate these reforms. Given the multidimensional nature of e-government, it is interesting to understand in which areas blockchain has the potential to promote innovation, what processes and procedures can be automated using blockchain technology, and what illustrative examples of government efficiency can be observed in this area.

O tema da participação política, como todo mundo sabe, é um dos mais tradicionais da agenda de pesquisa sobre a democracia. No mesmo diapasão, o conjunto de temas que relacionam participação política civil e internet - ou, num quadro mais amplo, participação, engajamento cívico e tecnologias para comunicações digitais online - tem sido consideravelmente visitado nas últimas duas décadas. Falo de um “conjunto de temas” porque, a rigor, trata-se de vários veios discursivos que, de um modo ou de outro, implicam ou consideram frontalmente o problema da participação política mediada por tecnologias digitais.

e-Government and e-Democracy constitute a central theme in information society policy at all levels: local, regional, national, European and even globally. To this direction, a variety of efforts have been made and many systems have been developed. This paper proposes a methodology for designing and implementing web-based services that can support e-Democracy practices. Furthermore, the paper presents and describes the effort made by a Greek political party to this direction, for the design and development of a unified framework for providing, supporting and managing e-Democracy services. The paper describes the actions taken and the work done according to the proposed methodology.

The crisis in Ukraine is an unprecedented OPPORTUNITY. Never before has there been such a global opposition to psychotic “political” intention than the global righteous indignation expressed relative to Putin’s psychotic unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Experiencing such a crescendo of humanitarian solidarity is extremely rare and fleeting, and it is only possible because of the technological Fourth Estate (the electromagnetic media-field) that has framed the political issues involved. There can be no question that the current crisis in Ukraine has global significance, and media-framing of this fact has been compelling. However, the technology of “psychological framing” with information and communication technologies (ICTs) has advanced much further than longstanding advertising techniques of coercion through target-market identification that still holds the media captive. Science has now established the fact that human perceptions of ontological “reality”—in a context of the electromagnetic (EM) unified field of quantum field theory (QFT)—have the structure of NARRATIVE ARCHITECTURE.  In other words, reality has dramatic structure.  “An infinity of energetic resonances cavort in the form of “personal/collective dramas”. Good dramatic structure was defined by Plato who established the “framework” (character, exposition, lysis) that is a problem-solving formula that widely in use (Lakoff, G, 2008, 2002; Jacoby, 1973; Jung, C, 1933). The salient feature of Plato’s dramatic architecture is “plot” which unfolds from “exposition” (statement of a story’s problem) to lysis (resolution of the story’s problem) with adherence to “premise” (Schafer, SB, 2007; Glassner, A, 2004, p. 69).

The significance of this fact is that with the emergent media-age of virtual illusion, humans have the power to frame reality with the technological media—agency that should be attuned to FIRST CAUSE INTENTION (FCI). Proof of this fact can be stipulated because of the existence of the media-field that exemplifies this human creativity. What is not currently “known”, or yet deduced, is that this human creation—like a Jungian dream—can provide “meaningful insight” as to both human and divine PURPOSE. The media-field is structurally framed to accomplish meaningful insight about FIRST CAUSE INTENTION (FCI).  That divinely inspired FCI exists for the purpose of creating “responsible embodied transduction of EM energies” into an essentially humanitarian resonant quality in the dimension of material form.  The virtual media-field is the best example of this “embodied” purpose, but the toxic state of the media reflects a serious failure of responsibility for creating FCI COHERENT ENTRAINMENT (universal harmony).

Humanitarian craftsmen now have the responsibility to “intuit” FCI and to devise the “blueprint” (frame) for a Global Culture of Conscience (Soul). Currently, the media is structured to lead us into entropy (death), so change must be immediate. When mediated rhetorical dynamics are translated into the dynamics of physics and “coherent entrainment”, the DNA of First Cause media-framing becomes very specific and quantifiable. In-order to optimize the fleeting “opportunity” presented by the Ukrainian struggle, humanitarians must consciously accept the dynamics of EM coherent entrainment with the planetary Soul.

Resumen: El inicio del siglo XXI se caracteriza no solo por continuar la eterna divergencia ideológica en diversos sectores, sino por la aparición de una serie de tecnologías disruptivas capaces de aumentar notablemente el bienestar social tanto como de dar inicio a una crisis socio-política. Gracias al adelanto tecnológico la posibilidad de crear nuevas formas de gobierno han surgido. En este documento se explora el Estado Post-Democrático, una propuesta teórica para evolucionar el sentido democrático de las repúblicas en torno a la cientificidad, el registro de datos anónimo, la gestión de datos con poca intervención humana, la digitalización de la sociedad, la consecución de una Open Society y el camino hacia la transhumanización del hombre.

Lumea se schimbă. Dacă generațiile precedente erau obișnuite să
dialogheze „face to face”, astăzi spațiul public capătă o nouă dimensiune,
denumită „face 2 face”. Obiceiul de a vorbi la telefon este astăzi înlocuit cu
utilizarea aplicațiilor de social-media disponibile pentru telefoane mobile...
Ce au de câștigat oamenii din comunitățile virtuale, altfel spus, ce îi face să
continue să împărtășească informații cu alții, pe care probabil nu-i vor
întâlni niciodată față în față? Răspunsul lui Marc A. Smith a fost: „capital
social în rețea, capital de cunoaștere și comuniune” – oamenii pot pune
puțin din ceea ce știu și ceea ce simt în rețeaua on-line și pot extrage
cantități mai mari de cunoaștere și oportunități de socializare decât au
investit. Lucrarea de față prezintă puțin din dinamica acestui nou model de
comunicare și dimensiunea pe care acesta a căpătat-o astăzi.

Author is a researcher working in the educational project " E-Government 2.0 in Practice'' realized since 2014 under the European Commission's program ERASMUS+. The project developed innovative and interdisciplinary teaching curricula in the area of e-Government 2.0, offering a new quality of university education as regards the content provided and educational tools applied, in the subjects covering: Web 2.0 in public administration, particularly practical use of the ICT tools in the field of e-participation, e-consultations, e-petitions, e-democracy, crowdsourcing, collaborative decision-making, open data re-use etc. The knowledge database, the case studies, the new curricula, teaching methods and didactic tools have been created and are available for a free use for all interested universities. The paper includes the following subjects, reflecting the scope of work carried out in the project: identification of the contemporary political, social, technical and research trends in the e-Government 2.0 area, the key questions outlining an e-Government 2.0 framework, proposed typology of the e-Government 2.0 websites and internet applications, as well as information about access to the results of the project. The project results are available for all the interested educational organizations under creative commons license on the http://www.egov2.eu website. Every university can therefore implement the project results in the educational program.

A deepening political crisis in Europe is accompanied by increasing civil discontent which directly translates into decreasing trust in political systems and political outcomes deficit of legitimacy. It is already contributing to the emergence of potentially dangerous and exclusive policies as populism and Euroscepticism is on spectacular rise, endangering liberal democracies of the continent and the European regional project. Therefore, a search for political innovation that could effectively address these issues is excessively justified. This thesis seeks to offer a solution by investigating the possibilities to extend popular sovereignty of citizens via the better integration of technological advances into the political life of European states. Such intention could not only carry the possibility to nurse some of the most serious societal grievances but also would adopt the conduct of 21st century politics to the ongoing trends set out by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

La trasparenza è una proprietà costituzionalmente necessaria della pubblica amministrazione alla cui realizzazione e al cui mantenimento hanno finora contribuito i tradizionali istituti dell’accesso e della pubblicità. Vi è, però, un altro fenomeno, che sta assumendo connotati giuridici sempre più definiti anche nel nostro ordinamento e che pare in grado di proiettare la trasparenza amministrativa verso un nuovo stadio evolutivo: l’open data. Le prospettive di riutilizzo a fini non lucrativi dei dati pubblici promettono una trasparenza “a grana più fine”, in grado di aprire spazi inediti di conoscenza e di cittadinanza amministrativa, favorendo una più piena attuazione dei principi di eguaglianza, imparzialità, buon andamento e sussidiarietà orizzontale. Le avanzate esperienze normative regionali e i processi di riforma in atto a livello comunitario richiamano il nostro legislatore nazionale ad un impegno non più eludibile: l’emanazione di uno statuto dei dati pubblici conforme al paradigma open.

Resumen
La idea de que Internet podría utilizarse para mejorar el funcionamiento democrático de nuestros sistemas políticos es tan antigua como la propia Internet. La realización de este anhelo se ha visto limitada, sin embargo, tanto por problemas técnicos como por la falta de voluntad política y permanece hoy en día en un estado apenas embrionario. La investigación académica, por su parte, ha tendido a alinearse con la agenda de los actores gubernamentales y ha promovido y estudiado experiencias de participación administrativa con un potencial transformador y esclarecedor muy limitado. Esta tesis doctoral lleva a cabo, en primer lugar, un análisis crítico de los principales avances conceptuales, metodológicos y técnicos promovidos desde los campos de la participación ciudadana y la democracia digital. Combinando ‘trans-disciplinariamente’ enfoques provenientes de la Ingeniería de Sistemas, la Sociología Política y la investigación etnográfica se llevaron a cabo una serie de trabajos de campo y de experimentos aplicados que han fundamentado el desarrollo de modelos conceptuales con capacidad para englobar las formas más emancipadas de participación digital. Sobre esa base teórica y conceptual, la tesis plantea un marco de referencia para orientar los procesos de diseño y construcción colaborativos de plataformas de Software Cívico que se atiendan las necesidades de los actores sociales afectados. Siguiendo esta metodología se realizarán en un futuro una serie investigaciones aplicadas de alto impacto y con un gran potencial para vincular sinérgicamente la investigación académica con su aplicación al entorno social.

Abstract
The idea of Internet being used to improve the democratic operation of our political systems is as old as the Internet itself, but its realization remains today at an embryonic stage, limited as much by technical problems as by a lack of political will. Academic research, meanwhile, has been aligned with the agenda of government actors and has studied and promoted mostly a kind of ‘top-down’ citizen participation experiences, whose transformative and enlightening potential is very limited. This doctoral dissertation performs, first, a critical analysis of the major conceptual, methodological and technical advances obtained so far in the public participation and digital democracy fields. By means of a cross-disciplinary research approach, that combines insights from ethnographic research and the Systems Engineering and Political Sociology fields, a series of field work and applied experiments were performed. They laid the foundations for the development of conceptual models capable to apprehend emancipated forms of digital participation. On that basis, the dissertation develops a reference framework for the collaborative design and construction of Civic Software platforms that suit the needs of all affected stakeholders. This methodology will guide future applied research with high potential to link the academic research with its application to the social environment in a synergic way.

This article discusses the use of the internet in politics focusing in particular on the case of the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S). A description of a new organizational model called «cybercratic centralism» vis-a-vis other ways of online organization is provided. Problems concerning online polling on Grillo’s blog are then examined, stressing their limits in terms of transparency and participation. Two specific cases are presented as being particularly telling of M5S online democratic practices: the selection of candidates to the Italian parliament and the membership to a political group in the European parliament. The most recent organizational developments of Grillo’s party are finally examined, underlying the enduring problems of such model.
Keywords: Movimento 5 Stelle – internet – electronic democracy – cybercratic centralism.

Llevar a cabo una reforma exitosa de simplificación y digitalización de trámites requiere hacer frente a cada uno de estos desafíos. En este capítulo se presentará la experiencia de cuatro países -Estonia, Chile, México y Uruguay– que desarrollaron estrategias, capacidades y modelos de gobernanza para afrontar estos obstáculos, y lograron obtener resultados destacables en sus esfuerzos de simplificación y digitalización. Se busca mostrar las lecciones aprendidas, tanto positivas como negativas, con el objetivo de darles una guía a los países interesados en llevar a cabo iniciativas de este tipo. Estos son ejemplos de un muy pequeño número de casos, ninguno perfecto, pero que sin embargo exponen lecciones valiosas para entender las claves del éxito para una reforma de simplificación y digitalización.

Nicola Guerra’s essay deals with the recent Italian migration to Finland. The author examines why a growing number of young people has moved to Finland in the last ten years and many young Italians look to the Scandinavian country with a desire to settle there soon. The investigation of the driving forces behind
the flow is accomplished through the semantic analysis of the migrants’ narratives. The study places the reasons for the exodus within the social and economic settings that characterize the two European nations. Guerra identifies the quality of life, rather than the opportunity to get a job matching one’s
educational qualification, as the reason for the decision to migrate.

В данной работе рассматриваются основные проблемы внедрения электронного голосования в общемировой практике. Особое внимание уделяется проблеме соотношения теоретических наработок и их практической реализации.

This paper examines the main problems of the implementation of electronic voting in the world practice. Special attention is paid to the problem of correlation of theoretical developments and their practical implementation.

Note: Downloadable document is in Russian.

This article focuses on the technological affordances and use of Rousseau, the decision-making platform of the second largest Italian political party, the Five Star Movement. Crossing an empirical observation of the platform’s functionalities with data regarding its use and qualitative data collected during the 2016 and 2017 national meetings of the Five Star Movement, the essay argues that Rousseau supports an emerging “direct parliamentarianism,” which allows party members to entertain an ostensibly direct relationship with the party in public office, at the expense, however, of deliberative processes that may allow them to influence the party agenda. Thus Rousseau leaves the deliberative, and strictly parliamentary moment in the hands of elected representatives and party leaders, leaving to the party base the task of choosing between options that have been defined elsewhere.

"This paper examines internet use as a personal political device among Members of the Knesset (hereafter: MKs). We will first describe the social and political trends which promote Israeli and worldwide parliamentarians’ use of personal internet platforms as a communication medium. Description of these trends will be accompanied by examples from 17th-Knesset MKs’ websites. We
will also review the changes which took place in MKs’ use of personal internet tools, in accordance with the identified developmental phases. Finally, we will discuss the distinction between Internet use as a means of political communication
during campaigns and Internet use as a platform for interaction with the public while in office.
Keywords: e-Politics; Israel; online political activity; MKs; personal websites"

Tampere is a Finnish city with a powerful industrial past. Like many other cities around the world, Tampere has been struggling to keep up with the changing demands of globalisation. Recently, special efforts have been made to shape Tampere into a high-performing informational city. This volume provides insights into the overall dynamics of local development strategies as well as concrete aspects and stages in the development of Tampere. Current challenges and possible future directions for the city are also discussed.

The chapters in the book represent various viewpoints on local development, including history, knowledge economy, democratic e-governance, e-education, e-health, culture and e-inclusion. In addition, some of the articles provide international comparisons with other regions in similar situations.

Contributions from both local and international experts are included. Due to its multidisciplinary approach, this book can be used for teaching in several fields. As a comprehensive analysis of an informational city, this book is useful for academics and practitioners who are looking for solutions to local development in a global age.