Governments are Implementing Electronic Democracy in a Variety of Ways Governments began to consider new forms of government with the arrival of the Internet and Web pages. Perhaps, it is a coincidence that these events are occurring at the same time. But, governments at all levels clearly see that Information Technology, and Internet in particular, will enhance democracy and support effective citizen participation in government. The legal structure, culture, and society of a government will affect how Internet and other technologies are introduced into governance. Nonetheless, all governments see Internet as something very different and very promising.
Every government has a range of Internet based programs and emerging plans.
Iceland, for example, is converting its libraries into information centers which will provide Internet access to the public. Iperbole allows the citizens to address messages to the city government in a free-form way. Technology examines each message and determines the appropriate office to route it to for action. The system has 11,000 users. Thousands of e-mail messages are exchanged daily.