Innovative Mechanisms for Strengthening Political Engagement of the Citizenry

摘要

The paper deals with mechanisms for enhancing political participation and upgrading of political competence of the citizens in contemporary democracies. Political space went through profound change in the last couple of decades. In many countries, long-term decline in political trust is coupled with decrease of electoral turnout. In this regard, the innovative forms of political activity in the terms of e-participation, based on utilisation of information-communication technology, could stimulate political and civil engagement of the citizenry. Utilisation of these tools can lead to increased level of trust in key political institutions. Furthermore, certain e-participative tools are designed to increase political competence of the citizenry, enabling them to make more informed political choices.