[ecrea] CfP E-Deliberation, Political Institutions, Online Political Networks and Public Engagement

REMINDER

********************* CALL FOR PAPERS *********************



SUBMISSION DUE DATE: May 1, 2013



SPECIAL ISSUE ON E-Deliberation, Political Institutions, Online 
Political Networks and Public Engagement

Guest Editor: Anastasia Deligiaouri, Technological Educational Institute 
(TEI) of Western Macedonia, Kastoria, Greece



INTRODUCTION:

The concept of Deliberative Democracy originates from the work of J. 
Habermas, J. Rawls and several other scholars that tried to promote new 
forms of democratic engagement of citizens. The paradigm of Deliberative 
Democracy originates from the inadequacies of representative democracy 
and from the dissatisfaction of citizens with established democratic 
procedures. The concept of Deliberation introduces ways to re-engage 
citizens in political procedures, stimulate public dialogue, and allow 
the public sphere to be accessible to all citizens. Overall, 
deliberative procedures ensure that the final political decision stands 
as the outcome of a collaborative conversational process and as the 
outcome of a rational dialogue which encompasses the interests of citizens.

As such, the aim of adopting public deliberation is to lead to a 
decentralization of the public sphere and empowering of public 
participation. However, a great disagreement is also present between 
scholars regarding the ends or desired outcomes of such a deliberative 
procedure. Must we strive for an aggregative result or has the 
deliberation already fulfilled its democratic premise by just making a 
public hearing possible?



OBJECTIVE OF THE SPECIAL ISSUE:

How can the Internet facilitate the deliberation process? What standards 
should be met in order to advance the hidden peril of a new “digital 
divide”? The technologies of the Internet have boosted a live global 
community and enhanced citizens’ networks, even social movements, while 
the revolution of Web 2.0 technologies and social media reinvented 
online communication by promoting a new perception of sharing and 
creating in new social and public spaces. Social media sites, such as 
Facebook, Youtube, and others, have re-defined the concept of 
sociability, triggering online interaction and political activity. The 
acceptance of political blogs among Internet users worldwide has proven 
to be a focal point of this discussion as well. Online (E-) Deliberation 
is a “blossoming” yet evolving landscape with many questions to be answered.



RECOMMENDED TOPICS:

Due to growing online communities and the effort to re-conceptualize and 
reconsider democracy, this special issue of the International Journal of 
E-Politics invites papers (conceptual or empirical) that

include (but are not limited to) the following:

· Assessing informal and formal deliberation in on line communities. Is 
it possible to frame E-deliberation and to extract a political gain from 
E-deliberation for a society?

· Developing the framework (structure, infrastructure, software) to 
enable E-Deliberation

· Discourse, Arguments and Reason in on line communities. How the 
abstractive and encoded language of on line communities can support the 
articulation of a rational argument in public dialogue?

· E-Rulemaking, E-Consultation

· Factors that may interfere with the deliberative process. The problem 
of “digital divide’, freedom of expression, limits, boundaries 
acceptable constraints and implementation of the right of expression in 
on line communities

· Issues of equality, public reason, and anti-elite considerations and 
precautions for an open dialogue

· Organization and management of E-Deliberation

· Possible problems of strong civic opposition and the possibility of 
dealing with unresolved conflicts in E-Deliberation

· The new characteristic, skills and demands for “netizens” in order to 
participate efficiently and successfully in an E-Deliberation procedure

· The potential of ICT technologies and especially social media to 
contribute towards public deliberation

· Transformation of political institutions towards the direction of 
promoting, including and serving public deliberation

· Ways of embedding and including the result of public deliberation in 
democratic processes and governmental decision making

· Willingness of citizens and forms of their engagement in public dialogue



SUBMISSION PROCEDURE:

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit papers for the 
special issue on E-Deliberation, Political Institutions, Online 
Political Networks and Public Engagements on or before May 1, 2013. All 
submissions must be original and may not be under review by another 
publication. INTERESTED AUTHORS SHOULD CONSULT THE JOURNAL’S GUIDELINES 
FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS at 
http://www.igi-global.com/Files/AuthorEditor/guidelinessubmission.pdf. 
All submitted papers will be reviewed on a double-blind, peer review 
basis. Papers must follow APA style for reference citations. Please 
Indicate in the subject of the email ‘‘For the special issue of IJEP”.



IMPORTANT DATES:

May 1, 2013: Paper submission

June 1, 2013: Review Results Returned to authors

August 15, 2013: Final decision from the editor for the selected papers.

October 1, 2013: Submission of all materials to the publisher



ABOUT International Journal of E-Politics:

The mission of the International Journal of E-Politics (IJEP) is to 
define and expand the boundaries of e-politics as an emerging area of 
inter-disciplinary research and practice by assisting in the development 
of e-politics theories and empirical models. The journal creates a venue 
for empirical, theoretical, and practical scholarly work on e-politics 
to be published, leading to sharing of ideas between practitioners and 
academics in this field. IJEP contributes to the creation of a community 
of e-politics researchers by serving as a “hub” for related activities, 
such as organizing seminars and conferences on e-politics and 
publication of books on e-politics.



This journal is an official publication of the Information Resources 
Management Association

www.igi-global.com/IJEP



Editor-in-Chief: Celia Romm Livermore

Published: Quarterly (both in Print and Electronic form)



PUBLISHER:

The International Journal of E-Politics is published by IGI Global 
(formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science 
Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science 
Reference”, “Business Science Reference”, and “Engineering Science 
Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, 
please visit www.igi-global.com.



All submissions should be should be directed to the attention of:

Dr. Anastasia Deligiaouri

Guest Editor

International Journal of E-Politics (IJEP)

E-mail: (a.deligiaouri /at/ kastoria.teikoz.gr)

--
Dr Anastasia Deligiaouri
Senior Lecturer
Department of Public Relations and Communication
ATEI of Western Macedonia,
52100, Kastoria, Greece
contact email: (a.deligiaouri /at/ kastoria.teikoz.gr).


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