The essence of electronic democracy, its principles and instrumentarium

Abstract

This paper examines the theoretical approaches to electronic democracy, its significance and the possibilities in its broad and restricted realization during the process of e-government creation and the development of e-governance. The methodological basis of the investigation is an analysis of the theoretical foundations and the international practices applied in order to involve citizens in the decision-making process and data about the electronic participation of citizens gathered by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The practical significance of the present investigation is to define the correlation between the real state of the electronic participation of citizens and the proclaimed purposes of electronic democracy. The problems that make the circumstances around the formation of electronic democracy in Ukrainian more complicated have been defined and directions for the development and improvement of electronic interaction have been offered.