Information, digital democracy and political participation: a brief theoretical and analytic review

The development of information and communication technologies reveals, in contemporary times, substantial changes in modus operandi of many social instances, as economics and politics. The internet is configured as an important network able to transfer traditional human activities - as health and education, for instance - to a cyber culture (or cyberculture), because it enables the production and sharing of information / informational contents from interconnected computers. Thus, the article discusses certain conceptual aspects about political participation in networks, specifically on websites of Members of the Legislative Assembly of Bahia. It reviews the conceptual contours about 'cyberspace' and 'cyberdemocracy'-considering information as an essential prerogative to democratic rule-as well as the theoretical assumptions of digital democracy and participation. It considers that internet could be an important tool for strengthening the democratic regime, justified by the arguments above, but also reveals other aspects related to political participation in the network.