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The provision of governmental services and the very nature of governance changeswith the ever growing influence of Information and Communication Technologies inall governmental institutions. This book is examining the design and success of theEuropean Commission’s efforts to engage the citizens, consumers and businesses inpolicy- and decision making, in order to improve the democratic and politicaloutcomes. The theoretical part of this book makes the rationale clear why reforms ofgovernmental agencies are necessary. It provides theoretical evidence on whyeDemocracy improves the working processes of political and bureaucratic agenciesand how best practices can facilitate such initiatives. A sound design of eDemocracyprograms is imperative, in order to attract citizens and businesses to make use of theinitiatives on one hand, and to maximize the potential of an engaged citizenry inpolitics, on the other. The three pillar model, as is developed in this book, offers aplatform for such design. It stipulates governments to offer two-way communicationand participation tools that promote transparency, accountability, democraticaffiliation and effectiveness of political programs and policy proposals. The EuropeanCommission has introduced a single access point for citizens, consumers andbusinesses, in order to promote electronic democracy and to gather and store crucialinformation that is used in policy-making. The main initiatives are onlineconsultations and the, so called, Feedback mechanism, accessible through the officialweb site of the European Union, http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice. Both tools give theinterested stakeholder the possibility to express his or her view, opinion, concern orexperience on various matters concerning the European Union and its institutions.Although the initiative is relatively new and evolving, success is perceptible andsatisfaction increases. Nevertheless, promotion is still weak and eParticipation as wellas eVoting have a long way to go before they can be truly encompassed intoeDemocracy within the European Union.This book is dedicated to all citizens, consumers, politicians and those who areinterested in the written topic.
