Volume-II, Special Issue, March 2026
Novel Insights A Peer-Reviewed Quarterly Multidisciplinary Research Journal |
Volume-II, Special Issue, March 2026 |
Gender, Digital Democracy and Participatory Governance: Rethinking Women’s Participation Ms. Bratati Ghosal, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Rabindra Mahavidyalaya, Champadanda, Hooghly, West Bengal, India Email: ghosalbratati1978@gmail.com |
Received: 24.03.2026 | Accepted: 16.03.2026 | Published Online: 31.03.2026 |
Page No: 43-57 | DOI: 10.69655/novelinsights.vol.2.issue.specialW.87 | |
Abstract | ||
The major focus of this paper attributes with two main questions– (a) does Digital Democracy excludes women from the ambit of participatory governance and (b) does digital democracy neutralize the value of gender? The interrogation based on descriptive analytical method with secondary datacovers two major shifts in thepositional status of women in participatory governance. It portraits how does women’s role ascitizen gradually transform to re-image them asnetizen. In this context it also highlights on how gently their positional status redirect their roles from subject to object. While digital democracy expands the scope of Government, it articulates a major shift in the pattern of governance. Thus justifies thevery role of power in its interaction with process and practices. This paper examines how does such interactionre-institutionalise the role of gender in terms of skill and knowledge therefore produces a thin line between skilled and unskilled in the operation of technological power. Such gap definitely reproducesa new form of social hierarchy where weak gender becomes more marginalised due to their minimum access of technology. Thus this article concludes that, merely the expansion of the scope of participation in digital democracy does not mean that it will dismantle the power block of gender hierarchy. As long as civic consciousness could not obtain, the accountability of government will not be ensured. Thus socio- cultural restructuringof gender roles will become distant dream which is essential for sustain gender justice and equality in Participatory governance of digital democracy. Keywords: Digital Democracy, Participatory Governance, Women’s Political Participation, Gender, Governance, Digital Divide | ||