Electronic Voting and Democracy: A Comparative Analysis

Electronic and Internet voting has become increasingly widespread in recent years, but which countries are the leaders of the movement and who lags behind? Is the digital divide likely to present a permanent challenge to electronic democracy? What are the experiences with regard to online voting, and what are the arguments for and against? Electronic Voting and Democracy examines these issues and the contexts in which they are played out, such as problems of legitimacy and the practical considerations that have driven some countries toward electronic voting faster than others.

Electronic and Internet voting has become increasingly widespread in recent years, but which countries are the leaders of the movement and who lags behind? Is the digital divide likely to present a permanent challenge to electronic democracy? What are the experiences with regard to online voting, and what are the arguments for and against? Electronic Voting and Democracy examines these issues and the contexts in which they are played out, such as problems of legitimacy and the practical considerations that have driven some countries toward electronic voting faster than others.

Norbert Kersting is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Marburg, Germany. He has also coordinated large-scale research programmes on political participation and democratization. He has published extensively on public sector reform and new instruments of participation in a comparative perspective. He is a member of the board of the standing research committee on local government in the International Association of Political Science.
Harald Baldersheim is Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo, Norway. He has published extensively on leadership and innovation in local and regional government. He has coordinated large-scale research programmes on processes of democratization in post-communist Europe and has also studied the spread of new communication technologies in Third World countries. He served as the chairperson of the standing research committee on local government in the International Association of Political Science.