E-Government and E-Democracy in the Supranational Arena: The Enforcing of Transparency and Democratic Legitimacy in the European Union

Abstract

Several scholars have argued about the nature of the democratic (and legitimacy) deficit that affects the European Union (EU) and its political institutions. The creation of a European public sphere and the enhancement of a European “we feeling” among citizens has been considered a fundamental feature to implement the democratic functioning of the EU. In this context of democratic deficit, it is interesting to understand and analyse the role of the e-government in the EU, in order to understand if new technologies could be useful to implement transparency and accountability within the supranational arena and reduce the gap between citizens and institutions. This gap is one of the core elements that are feeding the democratic and legitimacy deficit of the EU. The main task of the chapter is to analyse the actual state of e-government and e-democracy in the EU, and reflect if these tools are reducing the democratic deficit that is effecting EU institutions.