Information And Communication Technologies Impact On The Development Of Democracy

Abstract

Introduction. The author made an attempt to analyze the impact of global post-industrial communications on democracy based on the latest information technologies. It is stressed that in the modern world they are increasingly talking about the emergence of the phenomenon of "e-democracy", which means openness, transparency of state power, increasing the efficiency of political governance and active participation of citizens in making political decisions based on information and communication technologies. It has also been analyzed the negative side of the dissemination of information and communication technologies, in particular the author stresses that the information becomes not only an important factor of development, it turns into an instrument for achieving certain goals, manipulation, political intolerance. The aim of the article is to study the impact of information technologies on the formation of democracy. The author poses the following tasks: to identify the positive and negative factors of influence of the information society on formation of e-democracy and decision-making processes in the political sphere; to outline problems faced by democratic institutions in the era of the information society. The research methodology of article cover general scientific approaches: benchmarking method, system analysis method and dialectical method. While analyzing the phenomenon of e-democracy, the author relied on the theory of democracy and the information society. Comparative analysis method is applied to the analysis of democracy in modern society. The system analysis method was used in interpreting the concepts of the information society. Research results. Information democracy predetermines the transformation of interaction between the state and civil society, between the government and the management bodies, given that modern information and communication technologies show new perspectives of foreign and Internal policies that interact with civil society, including mass media, Internet, social media platforms, interactive communications, etc. In particular, they emphasize manipulative actions on the part of the governmental and business structures, distortion of information or false. The internet has become the dominant force when it comes to raising funds for election campaigns, gaining access to information, exchanging views and discussions, mobilizing people for political activities. Conclusions. Social networks, websites and tweets are increasingly acting as a channel of political information as well as the main public arena, where citizens express their ideas, attract others to protest actions, vote or volunteer work. We can create an open political system, which is oriented on solving citizens' problems, forming civil society with educated and conscious citizens, only on the basis of information democracy.