Conceptualizing Digital Democracy: A Policy-Oriented Approach Through Computational Text Analysis

This article proposes an empirically grounded conceptualization of digital democracy by analyzing policy documents from two countries (the United States and the United Kingdom) and two international organizations (the UN and the EU). Moving beyond idealized visions, I employ a policy-oriented approach, utilizing computational text analysis (BERTopic and keyATM models) to identify salient themes and nuances in how digital democracy is framed and addressed in diverse policy contexts. I then compare these computationally derived insights with the established coding scheme of the Digital Society Project (DSP), identifying areas of convergence and divergence. This comparative analysis informs concrete recommendations for revising and expanding existing coding frameworks to better capture the evolving characteristics and policy dimensions of digital democracy across different national and international settings. The findings contribute to a more nuanced and data-driven understanding of digital democracy’s conceptualization, offering insights for both academic research and policy design.