A High-tech Illusion or a Solution? American Political Scientists' Perspectives on E-Democracy

Abstract

繼電子化政府之後，美國與台灣同樣選擇了發展電子化民主作爲應用網路於政治過程的重大工程。電子化政府著眼於透過網路提供便民的措施，而電子化民主則強調透過網路進行民主的深化。兩者看似相似，但在執行及效果上卻大相徑庭。執行上，後者所涉及的社會正義問題更爲複雜，而在效果上則難及於電子化政府。本文將美國學界對電子化民主的相關文獻加以提理，並依學術研究與實務兩個脈絡提出報告。在學術研究面，本文列出美國在電子化民主上已經開展的九大研究課題並簡述其研究成果；在實務操作面則依據實證的發現及學者已經進行的批判提出建議。本文總結學者的發現指出：電子化民主的推行必須從建立立法機構對於透過網路提供選民服務的信心開始，而非以建造虛擬論壇的方式進行。國內政治學界對虛擬社群、民意變化，以及政治傳播的研究才剛起步，因此探討電子化民主的可行性與作法不失爲一個科際合作的機會。

As the application of the Internet has stretched from business and education to public services, the U.S. and Taiwan have put great attention on how governmental agencies facilitate their services. However, these questions remain unanswered: Will governmental investment on infrastructures contribute to the quality of democratic participation? What political scientists see the influence of applying the Internet to people's political life? What subjects in this new field have been addressed over the past years and what fields needs more research? This paper provides an overview of the literature of research of E-democracy in U.S. It outlines how the studies about influence of Internet on today's democracy. Based on Americans' experiences, I provide suggestions for the development of E-democracy in Taiwan.