This book throws new light on the way in which the Internet impacts on democracy. Based on Jürgen Habermas' discourse-theoretical reconstruction of democracy, it examines one of the world's largest, most diverse but also most unequal democracies, Brazil, in terms of the broad social and legal effects the internet has had. Focusing on the Brazilian constitutional evolution, the book examines how the Internet might impact on the legitimacy of a democratic order and if, and how, it might yield opportunities for democratic empowerment. The book also assesses the ways in which law, as an institution and a system, reacts to the changes and challenges brought about by the Internet: the ways in which law may retain its strength as an integrative force, avoiding a 'virtual' legitimacy crisis.

Autorentext

Dr. Samantha S. Moura Ribeiro is an Assistant Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), and a member of the Centre for Constitutional Studies NEC/PUC-Rio. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.Res from the European University Institute (EUI), Florence. She also holds a Master degree in State Theory and Constitutional Law, from PUC-Rio. She is a socio-legal scholar whose main research focuses on the guarantee of fundamental rights online, with a particular interest in discursive empowerment and legitimacy.

Inhalt
Introduction.- Part I: Internet, Democracy, and Brazil.- 1. Contextualizing What Changes.- 2. The Theoretical Framework: An Excursus.- 3. The Brazilian Constitutional State.- Part II: The Virtualized Constitutional Democracy in Brazil.- 4. Brazil Accessing the Internet: First Steps.- 5. The Map of Online Brazil.- 6. Online Empowerment: Building Self-Esteem, Recognition and Citizenship.- 7. Legitimacy.- 8. Internet Regulation in Brazil: Legal Tools and Proposals.- 9. Bridging Empowerment and Legitimacy.- Closing Remarks: Legitimacy from Legality to Code and Back.