“RECOMMENDATION OF THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS TO MEMBER STATES ON ELECTRONIC DEMOCRACY” AS A GLOBALIZATIONAL GUIDANCE NETOCRATIC PUBLIC GOVERNANCE

Abstract

The article examines the Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to member states on e-democracy. It has been established that the document is intended to formulate key directions and standards for the development of electronic democracy in the information society. The main postulates of e-democracy, outlined in the Recommendations as globalization guidelines for the formation of netocratic public administration, are analyzed. The importance and necessity of supporting electronic democracy is determined as an integral component of modern processes in the information society, which supports traditional ones and forms a number of innovative mechanisms and tools useful for use in the latest democratic processes. It has been established that the division of e-democracy into sectors, in accordance with the Recommendations (e-parliament, e-legislation, e-voting, e-justice, e-mediation, e-ecology, e-elections, e-referendum, e-consultations and etc.) provides for the participation of citizens at all levels of government through information and communication means and technologies, indicating the development of netocratic public administration. At the same time, it is emphasized that e-democracy should not be considered as a separate policy outside the policy of democratization as such, since the existence of e-democracy is possible only in the presence of direct democracy. A number of principles are outlined, recommended by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to member states, the implementation or improvement of which will contribute to both the development of e-democracy itself and the formation of effective netocratic public administration (the principle of electronic support for democracy; the principle of dissemination of democratic values; the principle of communication of e-democracy with the government; respect and implementation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, the principle of strengthening society, the principle of inclusiveness, the principle of involving youth with the help of the latest information and communication technologies in democratic processes, the principle of benefiting from electronic democracy, the principle of trust, etc.).