Conditions of E-democracy. Introducing configurational analysis in the study of e-democracy

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2013-08-30

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en

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This paper introduces configurational analysis in the study of e-democracy through fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. On the basis of an inquiry into Dutch local e-democracy, it is shown that the relationships indicated by standard correlational analysis can be understood more thoroughly by means of this new approach. Conditions taken into account are policy competition/learning, municipality size, political color of the government, citizen pressure and electoral turnout. While none of these conditions are necessary to explain e-democratic development, combined they can amount to a sufficient explanation in some cases. In contrast, municipality size and a low turnout are necessary conditions for explaining a lack of digital democratic development. In conclusion, it is noted that the e-democracy literature advances by letting go of simplifying causal assumptions and exploring causal complexity.

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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen

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