Citizens' Roles
The Internet provides a distinctive structure of opportunities that has the potential to renew interest in civic engagement and participation. Civic engagement can be understood to include three distinct dimensions: political knowledge (what people learn about public affairs), political trust (the public's orientation of support for the political system), and political participation (conventional activities designed to influence government and the decision-making process).
The information capacity available on the Internet allows citizens to become more knowledgeable about government and political issues, and the interactivity of the medium allows for new forms of communication with government, i.e. elected officials and/or public servants. The posting of contact information, legislation, agendas, and policies makes government more transparent, potentially enabling more informed participation both online and offline. For more information, visit transparent-gov.
A new way in which citizens can take a role in the government is with the OPEN Act. The Online Protection and Enforcement Act is revolutionary in that it allows those who can access the internet to go to their website Keep The Web Open view the act, add comments, and make changes that can then be added to the act. One of the main goals of E-democracy is to actively engage citizens through the use of media and communication technologies. Given the definition of E-democracy this act is seen as something that encourages citizens to get their own opinions in and possibly help write new legislation.
Read more about this topic: E-democracy
Famous quotes containing the word roles:
“Modern women are squeezed between the devil and the deep blue sea, and there are no lifeboats out there in the form of public policies designed to help these women combine their roles as mothers and as workers.”
—Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)