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The Types of Citizen Discussion in the Electronic Public Hearings and Democracy

  • Korean Society and Public Administration
  • Abbr : KSPA
  • 2015, 26(2), pp.303-327
  • Publisher : Seoul Association For Public Administration
  • Research Area : Social Science > Public Administration

Ju-Hi Han 1 Ju, Chang Bum 1

1동국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The development of information and communication technology is believed to lead to the appearance of electronic government and the advent of electronic democracy. It is believed that citizen participation in the electronic government could enhance the efficiency and democracy in public administration and government. However, there are both positive and negative perspectives about the future of electronic government and electronic democracy. This study analyzes electronic public hearings organized by the Korean government and discusses the way in which they evolve through discussions from the citizens. Gookminshinmungo is one of the most typical electronic public hearings in Korea. The types of citizen discussion in the electronic public hearings consist of ‘conflict formation between groups’ and ‘conflict formation among individuals’. Discussions via electronic media advanced by groups and citizens were analyzed using three criteria concerning citizens’ democratic attitudes - variety of opinions, logic of debates and citizenship of opinions. It was found that the debates of ‘conflict formation between groups’ showed more varied opinions than an individual-based counterpart. Most opinions in electronic public hearings characterized as both ‘conflict formation between groups’ and ‘conflict formation among individuals’ resulted from the participants’s emotional eruptions. In the aspect of ‘citizenship of opinions’, two types of electronic public hearings appeared low level of citizenship. Overall, there are high correlations in the types of citizen participation in electronic public hearings and the above-mentioned three aspects of democratic attitudes of citizens.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.