Governance vs. e-Governance; Democracy vs. e-Democracy by Iulia Drajneanu

1. Governance vs. E-Governance
Democracy vs. E-Democracy
What should the “E” stand for?
Iulia Drăjneanu, SNSPA
iuliamd@gmail.com

2. Parliament – 40%
The Constitutional Court- 41%
The Police- 1 in2 respondents;
The National Anticorruption Directorate – 40%
The General Prosecutor’s Office- 45%.
Trust in professions
Politician – 16%
Military – 81%.
(IRES, After the Referendum, The Effects of the Political Crisis, 2012)
The age of dissilussionment 1/2
Trust in institutions

3. The age of dissilussionment 2/2
Trust in political parties
•9/10 Romanians declare they have little and very little trust in political parties.
•9/10 Romanians believe political parties should represent the interests of the citizens,
but only 6% think they actually perform this duty.
•6/10 Romanians would rather vote for an independent candidate (especially the young
er voters, with average studies), while 3/10 prefer politically affiliated candidates.
•Half of the respondents say they vote for the person and not the platform (especially lib
erals, women and youth), while the platform is more important for a third of the respond
ents (mature or elderly, leftists, secondary education).
(IRES, “Political Parties in Romania –perceptions and representations”, 2016)

4. •This disengagement with the political arena created space for conversations on the internet and in th
e parks, so we also witnessed a positive spin: an increase in civil society engagement.
•the grassroots component of civil society became more numerous after the Colectiv fire in
•October 2015 and the protests in 2017.
•the emergence of grassroots-based initiatives like the Democracy Fund or the Contract Platform.
•However, only 5% of Romanians have ever been involved directly with a civil society organization, wh
ile 1 in 4 have ever participated in a protest.
New space for conversations
An increase in civil society engagement

5. Is the “e”in “e-democracy” or “e-governance” our
salvation?
•Only 28% of the Romanians have basic digital skills
•1,9% of the total Romanian workforce is specialized in IT&C
•17% of the shopping is done online, lowest rate in the EU.
(DESI, Country report for Romania, 2017)

6. Thank you!