Yanina Welp

Anita Breuer

This book is the first to comprehensively analyse the political and societal impacts of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in a region of the Global South. It evaluates under what conditions some Latin American governments and people have succeeded in taking up the opportunities related to the spread of ICTs, while others are confronted with the pessimist scenario of increased, digitally induced social and democratic cleavages. Specifically, the book examines if and how far the spread and use of new ICT affected central aims of democratic governance such as reducing socio-economic and gender inequality; strengthening citizen participation in political decision making; increasing the transparency of legislative processes; improving administrative processes; providing free access to government data and information; and expanding independent spaces of citizen communication. The country case and cross-country explore a range of bottom-up driven initiatives to reinforce democracy in the region. The book offers researchers and students an interdisciplinary approach to these issues by linking it to established theories of media and politics, political communication, political participation, and governance. Giving voice to researchers native to the region and with direct experience of the region, it uniquely brings together contributions from political scientists, researchers in communication studies and area studies specialists who have a solid record in political activism and international development co-operation.

Opportunities and Risks

Digital Technologies for Democratic Governance in Latin America

Ioannis Stavrakakis

Paolo Nesi

Franco Bagnoli

Giovanna Pacini

Anna Satsiou

Thanassis Tiropanis

Dominic DiFranzo

This book constitutes the proceedings of the Third International Conference on Internet Science held in Florence, Italy, in September 2016. The 25 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in this volume. They were organized in topical sections named: collective awareness and crowdsourcing platforms ̧ collaboration, privacy and conformity in virtual/social environments; internet interoperability, freedom and data analysis; smart cities and sociotechnical systems.

Third International Conference, INSCI 2016, Florence, Italy, September 12-14, 2016, Proceedings

Internet Science

Laurence Whitehead

This edited volume presents the first comprehensive analysis of recall processes which have spread globally since the end of the Cold War, and which are now re-configuring the political dynamics of electoral democracy. Drawing on the expertise of country experts, the book provides a coherent and theoretically informed framework for mapping and evaluating this fast-evolving phenomenon. While the existing literature on the subject has so far focused on isolated single-country studies, the collection brings recall experiments to centre stage as it relates them to current crises in the traditional variants of representative democracy. It explains why the spread of recall innovations is set to continue, and to pass a threshold from inattention to urgent engagement. The authors further provide original insights into the rationale for recall, as well as guidance on minimising the accompanying risks.

The Politics of Recall Elections

Daniel Zovatto G.

Alicia Lissidini

Democracia directa en Latinoamérica

Yanina Welp

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