2002 年 39 巻 1 号 p. 1-9
It is sometimes said that direct democracy can be put into practice in the highly information-oriented society. But <<democracy>> cannot be reduced to the efficiency of voting processing. <<Democracy>> has 'various aspects' and 'self-recurrence'. Under <<democracy>> people can be the mob, or can rebuid <<democracy>>. Especially the 'self-recurrence' has adaptability to <<digitization>>. <<Digitization>> is the tool which carries out 'high-mobility','high-preservability' and 'infinite reproduction' of contents. People can utilize digital data for democratic deliberation. By using internet, for instance, 'electronic forum' can be held in cyberspace. It can get over the limits of time, space and economy. On that point the on-line communication network can be a democratic tool. But the ploblem is in that how people take part in the rocesses of political practices. Firstly people need to keep striving for technical knowledge on the issue in question. Secondly people can transmit and receive live messages globally. Thirdly education can play an important part in connectiong <<democracy>> with practice of people's lives. I insist that the relation between the upturn of 'social speed' and 'spontaneuos order' should also be considered. 'Spontaneous order' is the foundation of society. We should be very careful to maintain 'spontaneuos order'. And I suggest <<dual composion of decision>>, which mixes indirect democracy with direct democracy in some ways.