Orgnisation

The e-DC works with its sister organisation the Centre for Research on Direct Democracy (C2D), both based in Aarau, Switzerland. Whereas the C2D concentrates on the formal aspects of direct democracy, the e-DC is focuses its research attention on some of the more informal aspects of how information communication technologies (ICT’s) impact on political processes. Both units are housed within the newly creted Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau (ZDA) an associated research institute of the University of Zurich.

Mission

The development and use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) has profoundly affected not only the economy (e-commerce, e-business etc.) but also governments (e-government, e-administration) and even society in its broader sense (information society). Myriad reports, benchmarking studies and scientific contributions have been produced and are increasingly carried out world wide in order to assess such impacts and developments.

In parallel, several academic institutions have been created in order to better document and channel existing scientific knowledge as well as to promote research in these areas. However, up until recently there did not exist within the social sciences an academic research centre exclusively focusing on e-democracy.

The e-DC now works to fill this gap by furthering our understanding of the interaction between new information and communication technologies and our democratic institutions of governance through the pursuit of interdisciplinary research of the highest intellectual quality and by contributing and helping to shape the debate among the academic and policy communities.

 
History

The e-DC was designed as a simultaneous spin-off of the University of Geneva based Research Centre on Direct Democracy (c2d) and a joint-venture between c2d, the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence and the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) of the University of Oxford. Its aim was to exploit the unused potential and experience acquired within the c2d as well as previously successful collaborations in the domain of e-democracy between the three institutions.
 
On 1 September 2007, the eDC moved its administrative seat from the University of Geneva to the University of Zürich.  It has now become a unit within the newly founded Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau (ZDA), University of Zürich.