Introduction

As the second decade of the twenty-first century begins, information and communication technology has brought about significant changes in the way that people participate in political discourse and engage in civil society. This has led to a surge in scholarly interest in virtual public spheres, or the deployment of network structures to advance public discourse with the goal to influence political outcomes. This book brings together international scholars to analyze the impact of ICT on civil society, and in particular, the transition from e-government to e-democracy that is facilitated by virtual public spheres. Contributions to this book address several important issues ranging from the conceptual development of virtual public spheres to the challenges facing e-participation and e-government efforts. Several contributors to this book touch upon the conditions needed to facilitate e-democracy and the challenges confronting e-democracy efforts in developing countries. A little explored area of e-government, e-administration, is correctly identified by several chapters as potentially making contributions to e-democracy and virtual public spheres.