Abstract:

The M-Democracy concept has evolved taking advantage of the increasing advancements and ubiquity of mobile communications and the failure of traditional civic engagement tools to facilitate political inclusion of the society at large. Mobile technologies have the potential to politically include the mobile workforce, youth, rural communities, developing societies, and other marginalized groups. This study employs the disruptive innovation theory to argue that MDemocracy innovations have emerged to compete with or supplement mainstream civic engagement facilities. This is because these innovations provide affordable, real-time, many-to-many, customized, and less-regulated civic engagement capabilities. We have used multiple case studies to demonstrate the increasing impact of emerging mobile technologies on political participation. This study is particularly important for future research and initiatives that focus on improving civic participation using mobile technologies.