E-democracy, a portmanteau of the words "electronic" and "democracy," consists of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), including the Internet, mobile technologies and interactive digital television, to enable/empower citizens in their efforts to hold rulers/politicians accountable for their actions in the public realm.

E-democracy should not be considered as a different model of democratic governance but rather as a complementary element of traditional methods of community engagement -such as public meetings and workshops-. According to Stephen Coleman, professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, it is simply anything that governments do to facilitate greater participation in government using digital or electronic means. These initiatives can include e-forums, e-town hall meetings, e-consultations, e-referenda, e-voting, e-rule making and other forms of e-participation.

The kinds of enhancements sought by proponents of e-democracy are framed in terms of:

• encouraging the direct involvement and participation of citizens;
• increasing transparency and accountability of the political process;
• keeping the government closer to the consent of the governed citizens, thereby increasing its political legitimacy;
• improving the quality of opinion formation by opening new spaces of information and deliberation;
• promoting information sharing.

E-democracy can also be referred to as cyberdemocracy or digital democracy, and more generally, as any form of "digital engagement".