) ICTS( دمكراسي ديجيتالي و حكومت الكترونيكي : سياست و حكومت در عصر تكنولوژي هاي اطلاعاتي و ارتباطي

Digital Democracy and Electronic Government: The Politics and Government in the Age of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

The paper briefly explains the characteristics and capabilities of ICTs. It proceeds with a review of the interactions between communications, information and politics. ICTs have astonishingly developed the potentials of the traditional mass media, i.e., the press, radio, television, in terms of time, space as well as social distance and interactivity. These I i information present the increasing possibilities for the empowerment of direct and. representation democracy. Governments have different roles in relation to the ICTs, such as, being initiators, investors, users, and regulators. Achieving these functions results in the digitalization of the governing and creation of an electronic government, i.e., e-government, or briefly as e-gov. E-government, in turn, expands democratic processes in the society and also develops public services. In this paper, the effects of the three levels of c-government, i.e., information, communication, and transaction, in the various areas of government-society interrelations, such as G2C, G2B, C2B, etc. are discussed.