A panorama of perspectives on media education and democracy in a digital age that draws upon projects in both the formal and non-formal education spheres, this collection contributes to conceptualizing and cultivating a more respectful, robust and critically-engaged democracy.

Participatory media 2.0 have shifted the terrain of public life. We are all—individually and collectively—able to produce and circulate media to a potentially limitless audience, and we are all, at minimum, arbiters of knowledge and information through the choices—or clicks—we make when online. In this new environment of two-way and multidimensional media flow, digital communication tools, platforms and spaces offer enormous potential for the cultivation, development and circulation of diverse and counter-hegemonic perspectives. It has also provoked a crisis of communication between oppositional “echo chambers.” Democracy requires a functioning, critically-engaged and literate populace, one that can participate in, cultivate and shape, in meaningful and critical ways, the discourses and forms of the society in which it exists. Education for democracy, therefore, requires not only political literacy but also media and digital literacies, given the ubiquity and immersiveness of Media 2.0 in our lives. In Democracy 2.0, we feature a series of evocative, international case studies that document the impact of alternative and community use of media, in general, and Web 2.0 in particular. The aim is to foster critical reflection on social realities, developing the context for coalition-building in support of social change and social justice. The chapters herein examine activist uses of social and visual media within a broad and critical frame, underpinning the potential of alternative and DIY (Do It Yourself) media to impact and help forge community relationships, to foster engagement in the civic and social life of citizens across the globe and, ultimately, to support thicker forms of democratic participation, engagement and conscientization, beyond electoralist, representative, normative democracy.

The TCGOV 2005 international conference on e-government was held at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano during March 2–4, 2005. The conference was initiated by the working group “Towards Electronic Democracy” (TED) of the European Science Foundation and was jointly organized by the Free University ofBozen-Bolzano,theMunicipalityofBozen-Bolzano,theTEDWorkingGroup, and the IFIP Working Group 8.5. The conference addressed a large spectrum of issues that are relevant and have to be investigated for a successful transition from the traditional form of government to a new form known as e-government. The main focus was on the following topics: – improving citizen participation and policy making (e-democracy) – government application integration – semantic Web technologies for e-government – security aspects for e-government services Two sessions were dedicated to e-democracy, an emerging area within- government that seeks to enhance democratic processes and provide increased opportunities for individuals and communities to be involved in governmental decisions.Thecontributionsofthesetwosessionscovermorefundamentalresults and insights as well as experiences from di?erent countries. Another focus was on government application integration and the use of - mantic Web technologies, which are important technical aspects on the agenda of e-government research. Di?erent architectures for the integration and orch- tration of distributed services and processes were presented along with two case studies. Three papers about Semantic Web technologies discussed the use of ontologies in e-government.

This is an open access book.National Resilience of Indonesia is a dynamic condition of the Indonesian Nation that includes all aspects of integrated national life, defence from disturbances both from outside and from within the country to ensure identity, integration, survival of the nation and state, and the struggle to achieve national goals. The existence of digital life, a significant modernization, greatly influences the implementation of a country’s democracy. In general, the development of digitalization and modern life has affected not only democracy but also all aspects of life. People’s life dynamics can lead to the rapid growth of democratic appliances, where cultural acculturation was affected by a touch of information technology. The individual freedom of society in conveying ideas, criticisms, suggestions, and even blasphemy is often encountered through various variants of social media users. Digitalization encourages increased problems with people’s constitutional rights such as freedom of opinion, protection of the rights of other citizens, defamation, and pollution. Ethnicity, religion, race, between groups, and so on. Another problem that must also be accommodated is the problem of organizing democracy, statehood, and government policies. So there needs to be an optimization of the conception of a country’s democracy to create protection for citizens, governments, and so on to create optimal democratic implementation, accountability, and the state’s principles, and ideals.

This book is a groundbreaking exploration of public opinion in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on the Afrobarometer, a survey research project, it reveals what ordinary Africans think about democracy and market reforms, subjects on which almost nothing is otherwise known. The authors find that support for democracy in Africa is wide but shallow and that Afrcns feel trapped between state and market. While Africans are learning about reform on the basis of knowledge, reasoning, and experience, few countries are likely to attain full-fledged democracies and markets anytime soonn.

Aid Activities in Africa provides detailed information on individual commitments, i.e. intended disbursements, of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to African countries for the years 1999 and 2000. This publication records the commitments ...

"Addresses the question of why institutions meant to attract citizen participation succeed in strengthening civil society and improving state responsiveness and transparency in some places, but fail in others. Focuses on urban politics in Porto Alegre (Brazil), Montevideo (Uruguay), and Caracas (Venezuela)"--Provided by publisher.