Electronic and Representative Democracy: A happy Couple? Comparing online Dialogues in the UK, Sweden and Italy

This volume collects contributions by senior as well junior European scholars addressing a number of normatively relevant issues. What are the problems that the reforms are supposed to solve? Do they actually contribute to increased political engagement and participation at a more general level? Another question concerns the citizens that become engaged in these new forms of political participation: do they actually represent new groups of citizens, who have not been previously involved in politics? Or do the democratic initiatives and/or new forms of political participation have a reinforcing effect-in the sense that those citizens who are already resource-rich in terms of political capital have strengthened their positions even further?

The book consists of both theoretical reflections and a number of more empirically-related contributions. The first part focuses on new forms of participation, initiated from above in relation to established political institutions. The second part focuses on extra-parliamentary, unconventional forms of citizen participation originated from below.