The Interplay between Digital and Political Divides: The Case of e-Petitioning in Taiwan

doi:10.1177/0894439313497470

淡江大學機構典藏 > 商管學院 > 公共行政學系暨研究所 > 期刊論文 > Item 987654321/96699

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://tkuir.lib.tku.edu.tw/dspace/handle/987654321/96699

Title:	The Interplay between Digital and Political Divides: The Case of e-Petitioning in Taiwan
Authors:	Lee, Chung-pin;Chen, Don-yun;Huang, Tong-yi
Contributors:	淡江大學公共行政學系
Keywords:	political participation;mobilization of bias;political divide;digital divide;ICTs, Citizens' petitions
Date:	2014-02
Issue Date:	2014-03-12 16:48:23 (UTC+8)
Publisher:	Sage Publications
Abstract:	Political scientists have long been aware of the problem of unequal participation in democratic politics, the phenomenon we can call “political divide.” The emergence of information and communication technologies over recent years has sparked a discussion on whether this long-standing political divide can now be resolved by “e-democracy.” This study aims to answer two questions: (i) Can e-democracy, specifically e-petitions, attract traditional nonparticipants to participate in public affairs? (ii) In the context of promoting e-petitions, can “digital divide” alleviate the problem of “political divide?” The data used in this study were collected from a national poll on citizen experience of and willingness to participate in the petitioning for referendum. The results indicate that those who recall participating in paper petitions tended to be older, less educated, and with stronger party identification. Also, our results reveal that these people who can be effectively mobilized by traditional social networks are mostly, in fact, the “digital have-nots.” Furthermore, regarding the potential participants in e-petitions, we find that those “digital haves,” who had not been mobilized in previous paper-based petition sessions, were more likely to participate in e-petitions if they are implemented in the future. The results demonstrate the existence of a possible negative correlation between the political and the digital divide. This suggests that e-democracy might be potentially beneficial to alleviate the long worried negative effects of the political divide in democratic polity.
Relation:	Social Science Computer Review 32(1),pp.37-55
DOI:	10.1177/0894439313497470
Appears in Collections:	[公共行政學系暨研究所] 期刊論文

Files in This Item:

File	Description	Size	Format
index.html		0Kb	HTML	292	View/Open

Loading...