Towards a smart democracy: increased trust in political leaders

Abstract

Among the objectives of the present paper we can mention finding an answer as to how the democracy has been changing in order to adapt to the contemporary world and to the contemporary needs. How can technology help us, and how can technology make the distance between the people and the elites or those in power become smaller? Prior work includes papers by Walters (2011) and Scholl & Scholl (2014), discussing the way that electronic, or smart governance can lead on to a new dimension of democracy, that of smart democracy. Hofstede's (2011) cultural dimensions will also be used. The approach will consist of the cultural dimensions of individualism, rising worldwide, and that of lowering power distance, as the world tends towards liberal democracy as an ideal form of government and on the wish towards people becoming equal. The results show that there is more trust in the political leaders with a smart democracy tools. As the information is laid bare through technology, there may be less worries about corruption and manipulation. Among the Implications, we can see an improvement of the liberal democracy with adapting it to the needs and opportunities of the world today. The value of the paper consists in understanding the dimensions of individualism, low power distance and liberalism through the use of technology. Technology helps against the fears of people of corruption, which has been the driving force of protests in Romania quite recently. While these seem general ideas which have been around throughout history, they are achieving a new dimension within the smart city, where we have a higher level of security due to the presence of web cameras for surveillance, and where all systems of bureaucracy and politics, have become openly available due to the possibilities offered by technology.