Abstract

The development of civic networks which reduce the distance between administrations and citizens has had a positive influence on democratic processes. The essay analyses two models "in progress" of telematic democracy. The first concerns the American experience and shows the vitality of "community networks", which are localized and voluntarist aggregations of teledemocratic participation. The second model analyses the positive impact of telematic innovation on the institutional structure. The American civic networks have developed from the bottom up thanks to various bodies which, since the early 1980s, have exploited the potential of the Internet to purses social, civic, political and economic goals, with the emphasis on the concept of community. In Italy there has been an upsurge of interest in telematics since 1994 in various cities. The aim is to recast the relationship between the state and citizens. The function of civic networks can be summed up in three features: the furnishing of promotional information; the furnishing of administrative infromation; offering a "site" for contact between institutions and citizens and among citizens themselves.