Conceptualising Digital Democracy—From Technocracy and Populism to a New Concept of Democratic Authority and Participation?

According to the rather pessimistic diagnoses dominating in contemporary political research, the digitisation of information and the digital transformation of modern society tend to both a new form of (post-democratic) technocracy and a resurgence of populist democracy. These two main perils posed by the digital era can be confirmed by an in-depth theoretical approach eliciting that the practice of digital democracy generates a couple of threats that could eventually outweigh all available options offered by digital technologies in terms of facilitating democratic participation and deliberation. However, the focus on existing risks of digital democracy must not neglect the inherent opportunities. Hence, this article demonstrates how the corresponding debate benefits from an overarching theoretical foundation contributing equally to a systematic and well-balanced analysis. By applying the theory of democratic antinomies, it becomes possible to manage the difficult traverse between the requested openness to new technological developments and the indispensable defence of classic democratic principles. On this path, an adequate reflection on the conceptual change to which the notions of authority and participation are exposed in the age of digitalisation is crucial.