Smart Citizens Smarter State

Governments make too little use of the skills and experience of citizens. New tools—what Beth Simone Noveck calls technologies of expertise—are making it possible to match citizen expertise to the demand for it in government. She offers a vision of participatory democracy rooted not in voting or crowdsourcing but in people’s knowledge and know-how.

Three industrial revolutions have been among the most seminal events in human history, and now we are in the fourth, Industry 4.0. From time immemorial, we have created breakthroughs with any number of devices, machines, and methodologies, all in an effort to make our lives easier. But each new age of innovation has brought ever more daunting challenges to our very existence. Today’s technological revolution, Industry 4.0, is fundamentally changing every aspect of our lives more radically than ever before. To be successful in this revolution, one must be able to adapt to those profound changes, since all of us are vulnerable to being displaced by software programs, robots, or artificial intelligence. Like individuals, companies that have been unable to transition to Industry 4.0 have declined or even declared bankruptcy, while new startups have made their creators billionaires. The old rules no longer apply. We need to wake up to the realities that are taking place now and will inevitably continue into the future.

Rethinking Democratic Innovation takes a fresh look at diverging visions of improving democratic governance and asks whether these existing tensions could be made productive. Could different visions of democratic revitalisation complement and correct each other in ways that are good for democracy? Is it conceivable that combined approaches address a larger part of the democratic challenge, while isolated approaches, centralizing deliberative or plebiscitary democracy, are confined to more limited areas of concern? This book ultimately provides an affirmative answer, outlining the scope for hybrid democratic innovations that thrive on exploiting, not eliminating, tensions between diverging visions of improved democracy. Supplementing democratic theory with a cultural perspective, this book contributes to a deeper understanding of plans and methods geared toward improving democratic governance. Revisiting Mary Douglas's seminal take on culture as pollution reduction, processes of democratic innovation are understood as instances of cultural cleaning in public governance. The book recognizes that democratic cleaning will never be finished but can be done in ways that are more productive. Reflecting on varieties of hybrid democratic innovation - deliberative referendums, participatory budgeting-new style, and more - the author posits that more versatile, connective, and embedded innovations stand a better chance of high performance on a broader spectrum than democratic innovations falling short of these qualities.

What is more paradoxically democratic than a people exercising their vote against the harbingers of the rule of law and democracy? What happens when the will of the people and the rule of law are at odds? Some commentators note that the presence of illiberal political movements in the public arena of many Western countries demonstrates that their democracy is so inclusive and alive that it comprehends and countenances even undemocratic forces and political agendas. But what if, on the contrary, these were the signs of the deconsolidation of democracy instead of its good health? What if democratically elected regimes were to ignore constitutional principles representing the rule of law and the limits of their power? With contributions from judges and scholars from different backgrounds and nationalities this book explores the framework in which this tension currently takes place in several Western countries by focusing on four key themes: - The Rule of Law: presenting a historical and theoretical reconstruction of the evolution of the Rule of Law; - The People: dealing with a set of problems around the notion of 'people' and the forces claiming to represent their voice; - Democracy and its enemies: tackling a variety of phenomena impacting on the traditional democratic balance of powers and institutional order; - Elected and Non-Elected: focusing on the juxtaposition between judges (and, more generally, non-representative bodies) and the people's representation.

This edited volume examines strategies to make future cities more sustainable. The aim of these and other initiatives of the recent past, is to transform our cities into smarter cities. Thereby, these solutions are determined to boost clean electricity and pollution reduction, improve the life of citizens and transform city environment and regulatory structures. As the EUs ambition is to become carbon-neutral until 2050, the outlined projects also consider fostering economy prosperity and social wellness and environmental sustainability. The greatest challenge being already built urban spaces that need to be transformed quickly and at low costs. The book will analyze future smart cities in three centric dimensions: energy and sustainable development, smart infrastructures for smart cities, social involvement and economic prosperity. With its global approach, the volume is highly useful for professionals involved in city planning and urban ecology.

This book highlights the electronic governance in a smart city through case studies of cities located in many countries. “E-Government” refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) 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. The resulting benefits are less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions. The book is divided into three parts. • E-Governance State of the Art Studies of many cities • E-Governance Domains Studies • E-Governance Tools and Issues

This volume contains the scientific papers presented at the 3rd International Conference “Contemporary Challenges in Administrative Law from an Interdisciplinary Perspective” that was held on 9 October 2020 online on Zoom. The conference is organized every year by the Society of Juridical and Administrative Sciences together with the Faculty of Law of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. More information about the conference can be found on the official website: www.alpaconference.ro. The scientific studies included in this volume are grouped into two chapters: Administrative Law in the Global Social Systemand Public Administration in the Global Social System. This volume is aimed at practitioners, researchers, students and PhD candidates in juridical and administrative sciences, who are interested in recent developments and prospects for development in the field of administrative law and public administration at international and national level.

Provides a richly researched yet concrete agenda for addressing the current crises of American democracy.