POLITICS AND POWER
This assignment will discuss
and focus on politics and power, referring to the discourse of the digital
divide on the democracy and the government of South Africa. It will define the
concepts such as digital divide, e-democracy and e-government and explain the
impact of the digital divide on democracy and the government of South Africa
and give relevant example/examples.
CaricomicT4D (2008) define
digital divide as the gap or imbalance that exist between those who have access
to information and communications technology and also to the unequal access of
resources. CaricomicT4D (2008) stated that the digital divide can exist between
those living in rural areas and those living in urban areas, between the
educated and uneducated, between economic classes, and on a global scale
between move and less industrially developed nations.
According to Clift (2003)
e-democracy is the use of information and communications technologies and
strategies by “democratic sectors” within the political processes of local
communities, states/regions, and nations and on the global stage.
Clift (2003) stated that the
“democratic sectors” include the following democratic actors:
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Governments.
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Elected officials.
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Media (and major online portals).
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Political parties and Interest groups.
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Civil Society Organizations.
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International Governmental Organizations.
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Citizens/Voters.
“E-government refers to the
use by government agencies of information technologies that have the ability to
transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.
These technologies can serve a variety of different ends, better delivery of
government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and
industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient
government management” (World Bank).
Cohen(2000) states that the
impact of the digital divide on the government of South Africa is the powerful
influence on the public’s access to government documents, the tactics and
content of political campaigns and the ways in which topic discourse
Cohen (2000) defined some of
the impact of digital divide on the government as:
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Cost effectiveness- reduces cost in rendering
services.
- Time saving- reducing delays in delivery of
services.
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Improve communication- communication between
government and citizens.
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Improve operations and services – improving
quality of service delivery.
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Expand access- citizen’s access to public
sector information.
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Increase efficiency- e-governance that
produces more output at the same total cost in less time.
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Increase effectiveness- governance that works
better, producing the same outputs at the same total cost in the same time, but
to a higher quality standard.
Bellamy,
Christine & Charles (1999:518) stated some of the impact of the digital
divide on the democracy of South Africa as:
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Legislations that protects freedom of
expression on the internet.
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Providing access to public information
online.
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Voting online.
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Consulting citizens in online citizen panels,
focus groups, open discussion forums.
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Citizens contacting individual politicians
online, through e-mail, chatting, websites etc.
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Include information support systems for
politicians as well as election, monitoring and other applications.
-
Public debate, online access to information
for scrutinizing the government.
Relevant Examples
South Africa government has
embraced the idea and publishes information via the internet. Some government
department makes use of mobile technology to communicate with citizen e.g.
“The department of Home
Affairs introduced a service for South Africans to check the progress on
approving their Identity document and passport applications via short message
service (sms)” (South Africa-the good news, 2008).
The department of Home Affairs
not only has introduced a service for the progress on approving on particular
document. It has a website where the society of South Africa can contacts the
home affairs; get access to the immigration service, statement and speeches and
forms where the society can apply for passport and identity document online.
The department has introduced the website service which can inform the society
about the members of the department their role and how the society can contact
them and the late news on the parliament and department.
This assignment has
discussed and analyzed the impact of the digital on the democracy and
government of South Africa. It has focus on how digital divide helps the
society of South Africa informed about the democracy and government they live
in. It has defined concepts like digital divide, e-democracy and e-government.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bellamy,
Christine & Charies, R. 1999. “Wiring up the deck-chairs?” Parliamentary
affairs. Vol.52. No.3, July.
CaricomiT4D.
Thursday 18 September 2008. European Union. Available: http:www.caricomict4d.org/ict-for-develop…
[Accessed: 19 April 2013]
Clift,
S. 2003. E-democracy, e-governance and public net-work. September Version 1.1.
Available: http://www.publicus.net . [Accessed: 19 April 2013]
Cohen,
T. 2000. Governance and human rights online. Available: http: www.wits.ac.za/research/r_9.html. [Accessed: 19 April 2013].
South
African- The good news. 2008. Mobile internet users exceed pc users. 27
November. Available: http:www.sagoodnews.co.za. [Accessed: 19 April 2013].
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