A Framework for Categorising and Evaluating Tools for e‑Democracy

Abstract

The design of tools and interfaces for e‑democracy systems takes place in a highly multidisciplinary context.However, the inter‑contextual understanding of democracy is still immature. This article presents a framework suitable forevaluating tools for e‑democracy. The framework has been developed based on earlier theories and frameworks and thenfurther evaluated against two test cases: Twitter and BottenAda. The evaluation model builds on the inclusion of differentviews of e‑democracy, not seeing them as conflicting per se but rather making it possible for e‑democracy tool users anddevelopers to understand the varying degree of support a tool can display for several aspects of democracy. The model alsoprovides a visualization of complex theories and can thus contribute to a more informed discussion on what types ofdemocratic values are being supported in a particular e‑democracy tool.