Digital Citizenship and Its Dimensions

Digital citizenship is a concept that has gained importance, especially after the 2000s, with the increasing prevalence of digitalization. This study aimed to examine the thoughts of the students who took the Digital Citizenship and Society course at Gaziantep University, Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism in the 2020-2021 academic year. The statements taken from the students reveal what the digital citizenship sub-dimensions mean in students' lives, which sub-dimension is more important to them, how they perceive the problems they encounter most in digital life, and the relationship between digitalization and participatory democracy. According to the results of the research, students have a positive attitude towards the concept of a digital citizen. Digital commerce and digital communication are the dimensions they are most associated with in their daily life. The most problematic dimensions are digital security, digital ethics, digital commerce, and digital law. Increasing digital citizenship qualities will facilitate participatory democracy.

The Role of DPPs in Promoting Local Government-Citizen Collaboration and Participation

The aim of this chapter is to present the implementation of a pilot digital participatory platform (DPP) called “Baladiaty” in order to foster local government-citizens collaboration and participation in Tunisia. “Baladiaty” means in the Arabic language “My municipality”. “Baladiaty” is a DPP designed, developed, and commercialized by ARSELA in 2019, a Tunisian start-up located in the governorate of Sousse. This paper contains two main parts. The first is considered a theoretical part. The authors will focus on the two main terms and concepts of this research, namely: digital democracy and DPP. This first part will focus on the definition of the digital participatory platform (DPP), and its role in promoting participatory democracy, citizen engagement and their ubiquitous engagement throughout the open government concept. The second part would be considered as a case study presenting a recently designed pilot DPP “Baladiaty” in Tunisia. This paper could be considered theoretical by focusing on the presentation of a pilot DPP in Tunisia, a nascent democracy.

After the Candles Were Extinguished

This chapter covers several issues South Korea has dealt with following President Park’s removal from office: the election of Moon Jae-in as president in May 2017, pro-Park groups’ anti-government rallies, and a public divide on potentially pardoning Park in 2021. In addition, it considers citizens’ evaluations of the impeachment candlelight vigils three years after Park’s impeachment. There is now a growing sense that the momentum for change ignited by the vigils may have been lost and that real systemic change has not been achieved. This chapter looks at how some actors within society are striving to sustain momentum for social change. While political parties and civic organizations in South Korea are experimenting with different strategies to engage citizens, some people are already demanding new forms of participatory democracy. Grass-roots organizations such as WAGL and Parti Co-op have emerged to design and implement alternative ways of incorporating citizens’ direct participation in policy decision-making processes.

Digital Technologies and the Problem of Democracy

This chapter introduces the book’s argument and approach. It argues that participatory democracy—understood as a method of collective problem-solving—is well suited for understanding the democratic implications of digital technologies. The chapter then explains why the book takes the methodological approach of examining the democratic effects of digital technologies through the lens of the built environment. Ultimately, the reason is one of power: the built environment exerts considerable power over us, shaping our behavior in often-invisible ways. Insofar as democracy requires citizen participation in the decisions that shape their lives, they require a built environment that affords the opportunity to engage in the requisite democratic affordances—specifically, the practices of recognition, attachment, and experimentalism. In order to facilitate these affordances, democratic environments must have three characteristics: (1) boundaries, to facilitate recognition; (2) durable spaces, to cultivate attachment; and (3) flexible spaces, to provide opportunities and resources for experimental habits.

Modern valences of participatory democracy

The concept that encompasses to a significant extent and at multiple levels the participation of citizens is that of participatory democracy. This requires people, communities or different social groups to be involved in decision-making and resource management. Participatory democracy is a continuous process, with risks, requiring organization, collaboration, identification of common goals in a group

Constituent power, citizenship, and the European Union

<p>The European Union (EU) has undergone constant political and economic integration since its inception in 1952. It has developed from a community in the aftermath of World War Two, into a Union of diverse states with its own political and legal system. It is the best example of international integration and co-operation in the world. A number of treaties represent the primary law of the EU. The treaties represent the EU’s commitment to promote human rights, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law. The Treaty of Lisbon¹ was introduced and adopted by the Member States to increase participatory democracy within the EU. Originally called the Reform Treaty, it amended the existing EU and EC treaties, providing the EU with the legal framework to meet the future challenges and to respond to the increasing demands of the citizens’ for a more transparent and open institution. The European Parliament is the only directly elected institution of the EU, and traditionally had the least amount of power of the EU institutions. The Lisbon Treaty attempted to address the so-called democratic deficit through a range of institutional reforms that recognised the importance of European citizen involvement in the EU. Citizen involvement in the EU has also been increased through the implementation of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). The ECI represents a further step towards the EU becoming a true participatory democracy. This purpose of this paper is to critically assess the democratic involvement of European citizens in the operation of the EU, and how the constitutional foundation of the EU provides for this involvement. The paper will seek to answer to what extent European Citizens’ have the ability to affect real and meaningful change upon the EU, a power that currently sits with the governments of Member States. Democracy is often associated with the power of the citizens to affect change in the institutions that govern them. The theory of constituent power goes one step further and argues that it gives citizens the ability to alter not only the governing institutions, but the also the power that those institutions exercise. This begins with an introduction of the main institutions of the EU, before moving to discuss the theory of constituent power, before assessing what factors would be necessary for constitutent power to be successful in the EU. ¹ Official Journal of the European Union 2007 No C 306/1 (herein after referred to as the Treaty of Lisbon). Adopted 2008, entered into force 1 December 2009.</p>