European E-Democracy in Practice

Introduction.- The State of Scholarly Discussions: E-Democracy - Conceptual Foundations and Recent Trends.- E-Democracy and the European Public Sphere.- Experience with Digital Tools in Different Types of E-Participation.- Case Studies: Introduction to the Case Study Research.- Parliamentary Monitoring.- Informal Agenda Setting.- Formal Agenda Setting (National and Local Level).- Formal Agenda Setting (European Level).- Non-Binding Decision Making.- Binding Decision Making.- Conclusions: Assessing Tools for E-Democracy.- Options for Improving E-Participation at the EU Level.

Leonhard Hennen, PhD. in Sociology, is a former project manager at the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Parliament, which is run by the Institute of Technology Assessment, Research Center Karlsruhe, Germany. He has been responsible for projects on Genetic Testing, Technology Controversies, Sustainable Development and Research Policy, Neuro-Science and Society, E-democracy and others. He has participated in several European projects on concepts and methods of Technology Assessment. Since 2006 he has been coordinator of the European Technology Assessment Group (ETAG). ETAG was set up by a group of European Scientific Institutes active in the field of Technology Assessments, which carry out TA studies on behalf of the European Parliament.

Ira van Keulen has been a senior researcher and parliamentary liaison at the Rathenau Institute, The Netherlands, since 2009. She specializes in digital democracy and evidence-informed politics and has beeninvolved in various projects on converging technologies and human enhancement. Van Keulen studied Sociology at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA. Her work has consistently focused on interactions between technology and society. As a liaison for the entire institute, she is responsible for ensuring that its work is communicated at the right time, and to the right parliamentarians, at the Dutch House of Representatives and the Senate.

Iris Korthagen has been working as a researcher at the Rathenau Institute, The Netherlands, since February 2015. With a focus on topics such as science journalism, digital democracy and smart cities, she has chiefly worked for the Council for Social Development (Raad voor Maatschappelijke Ontwikkeling, RMO). The advisory reports she has written for the RMO were focused on nudging and on journalism. Her PhD research examined the role of media and media