The theses deal with the research on electronic democracy as a phenomenon that reflects the content and nature of political relations inherent in the new socio-cultural reality that has formed as a result of the widespread penetration of Internet technologies into all spheres of public life. The presented theses are an innovative comprehensive study of e-democracy, which combines the basic provisions of democracy theory and network theory, reveals the value bases of the genesis, dynamics of development, typology, structure, and functioning of e-democracy and characterizes the features of the transformation of political communication and political participation processes in Ukraine, which are caused by the spread of various online networks.
The main innovation of this study is due to the synergistic combination of systemic and axiological approaches to the analysis and generalization of both the theoretical work of well-known authorities in political science and the data of empirical research of leading specialists in the field of political communication and network interaction. This methodology allows the author to determine the value basis, as well as formulate regularities and reveal the purpose, functions, and structure of electronic democracy as a multi-network of political communication and participation on the Internet.
Relying on fundamental ideas about the essence of democracy, the study determines the three pillars that ensure the stable and effective functioning of a democratic political system. These are the values of freedom, public good, and justice. The postulates substantiated by the founders of democracy theory allowed the author to formulate the key principles of democracy: 1) the principle of pluralism, 2) the principle of citizen participation in public affairs, and 3) the principle of political communication.The study highlights and characterizes the following periods of the evolution of electronic democracy: 1) the preparatory period, which includes the radio and television stages of political information; 2) the modern Internet period, in which the following two stages are distinguished: the stage of development of political participation and communication using computer equipment with access to local networks and the Internet; the stage of political communication and participation through Web 2.0 networks that connect personal computer users; the stage of mobile network political activity through smartphones and androids; 3) the future period, the prospects of which are opened by the use of artificial intelligence in the political sphere.
For the first time in Ukrainian political science, the author defines the axiological basis of e-democracy and proves that it determines the structural and functional features of e-democracy as a means of political communication and political participation in the network society. On this basis, she formulates a pattern according to which fundamental social values – freedom, public good, and justice – determine the formation of the e-democracy basic types – liberal, participatory and deliberative – which, in turn, determine the functions that these structures have to perform, the concrete forms are constructed accordingly to these functions and the electronic democracy tools are being used. The practical significance of the obtained results is determined by relevance and novelty. It consists of the possibility of their application for research, applied, and educational purposes. The key innovative provisions, conclusions, and recommendations formulated in the study should be used when introducing an axiological approach to assess the state of e-democracy and to establish value guidelines for its further development. And the presented method of analyzing the effectiveness of various forms of e-democracy and determining the effectiveness of the tools corresponding to these forms can be applied when assessing the potential of online networks for improving political participation and political communication, as necessary conditions for solving the urgent problems of improving the quality of governance and nationwide consolidation in Ukraine.
