The Issue of Interaction between the Government and the Civil Society through the Internet

Аннотация

The study of the problem of interaction between the government and the civil society through the Internet in Russia is presented. It is stated that authorities interact with the society through the Internet giving information about their activities, providing state and municipal services, introducing a feedback mechanism, organizing platforms for discussions and using blogs (in informal way). The demand for receiving state and municipal services through the Internet as well as the popularity of informal requests to public authorities among Russian citizens is stressed. A number of obstacles to cooperation between the authorities and the society through the Internet are revealed, including the absence of websites of some authorities, their reluctance to publish some information in the open access for the social control, undeveloped interactive component (forums, panel discussions and so forth.) on the websites, the absence of the law mechanism to regulate citizens’ informal requests to the authorities through blogs. It is concluded that the role of the Internet as the main mechanism of interaction between the government and the society will continue increasing.