Especially for people in Asia! Call for Papers (Special Issue) Transformation of Citizenship and Governance in Asia: The Challenges of Social and Mobile Media Guest Editors: Marko M. Skoric (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), Nojin Kwak (University of Michigan, USA), Ines Mergel (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University), and Peter Parycek (Danube University Krems, Austria) The proliferation of social media and mobile phones over the last decade has spurred significant interest in their civic and political implications not only within the scholarly community, but also among journalists, practitioners, activists, policy-makers, and ordinary citizens. While the role of new media platforms in facilitating macro-level political changes has generally attracted most attention, these new communication tools are also actively utilized in more traditional civic and political processes, including community initiatives and electoral campaigns. Also important is people’s everyday use of new technologies, which research has uncovered as providing an opportunity to encounter public affairs news and discourse, enhance understanding of issues, and get involved in civic and political activities. Further to this, social and mobile media platforms have created new channels and means for citizens to interact with governments and other political institutions, monitor their functioning, and more actively participate in policy-making processes. There is little doubt that the emerging social and mobile media practices, including content generation, collaboration, and network organization, are changing our understanding of governance and politics. While the above changes are already widely debated in mature, developed Western democracies, there is an even greater need to address them in the context of rapidly developing Asian societies. Although countries in Asia vary greatly in terms of the levels of economic and political development, quality of information and communication infrastructure, as well as their cultural, political and religious traditions, the arrival of networked new media platforms has lead to some similar socio-political shifts. Those include an increasing diversity of voices in the public sphere, greater visibility of political discourse, increased demands for transparency and accountability, and a significantly improved capacity for decentralized civic and political action. This special issue is aimed at showcasing innovative scholarly works examining various subjects concerning the role of social media, mobile phones, and other new technologies in the formation of democratic citizenship and good governance in Asia. We seek studies that address relevant topics in a particular Asian country, and also welcome comparative research on Asian countries or Asian and non-Asian countries. The authors are encouraged to explore diverse topics, and possible areas include (but are not limited to): Use of social media, mobile phones, and other new communication technologies in elections Use of social and mobile media by civic and grassroots groups Influence of new media on citizen choices, participation, and knowledge Patterns of new media use and civic and political consequences Social media to engage citizens; smart & mobile democracy Political elites’ use of social and mobile media Sustainability of e-participation Networks vs. traditional party-structures ICTs and their use for governmental transformation Open data initiatives Transparency, participation and collaboration in government Crowdsourcing for governance Service delivery via new communication channels Submission Guidelines Articles submitted for consideration must be written in English. Length of paper: 7,500-12,000 words, including footnotes. Please download the template and relevant guidelines at http://www.jedem.org/about/submissions#authorGuidelines Journal Info: http://www.jedem.org http://www.jedem.org/announcement/view/9 - Announcement Important Dates Submission deadline: 31.3.2013 Deadline for peer review: 15.5.2013 Editorial decision: 30.5.2013 Author’s revision: 30.6.2013 If you have questions regarding the process please contact judith.schossboeck@donau-uni.ac.at (Managing Editor) ------------------------------------------------------- Blog: Digital Government and Society ( http://digitalgovernment.wordpress.com/ ) ------------------------------------------------------- CeDEM - Conference for eDemocracy ( http://www.donau-uni.ac.at/cedem ) ( about:www.donau-uni.ac.at/edem ) ------------------------------------------------------- Mag. Judith Schoßböck Zentrum für E-Governance Donau-Universität Krems Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Straße 30 A-3500 Krems +43 2732 893 2309 judith.schossboeck@donau-uni.ac.at ------------------------------------------------------- JeDEM - Journal for eDemocracy and Open Government ( http://www.jedem.org/ ) -------------------------------------------------------