France: to Digital Democracy

The article, using the example of France, a country with a rich democratic historyand tradition, examines the process of transformation of the concept and the role ofdemocracy in the digital revolution. In this context, the object of the study was new ideasin assessing democracy and their refraction in the legislative activity of the parliamentand implementation by the executive branch, as well as their impact on the rights andfreedoms of the individual. The purpose of the work is to find an answer to the question ofhow traditional forms of democracy and their perception in the public mind correspond tothe realities of our days. This defines its main tasks - identifying the effects of digitalizationon democracy, their impact on democratic institutions and processes. To implementthe tasks set, both general scientific research methods (logical, historical, systemic)and special methods were used: formal legal, comparative legal methods, and theinterpretation of law. For specialists who advocate the concept of “digital democracy”, itsimplementation opens up new prospects for the establishment of true democracy, wheredirect forms of its implementation, citizen participation in decision-making at all levelsof government are expanding. There are other points of view, the essence of which is todeny the significant effects of digitalization on democracy. Moreover, its State reforms inFrance attach particular importance to the “figure”, which, according to their initiators,will generally strengthen the country’s democratic institutions. The figure appears in thetitle of the work of the working groups on the parliamentary reform, in the laws adoptedby it, which allocated and subjected to legal regulation of areas of activity, especially those affected by digitalization. negative consequences are emphasized: cybercrime,dehumanization of society, human exclusion. The article outlines a number of problemsthat digitalization poses for democracy and its main subject and object - the person.Indeed, digitalization opens up unprecedented opportunities, but does it fundamentallychange the nature and nature of the relationship between “managers” and “governed”(L. Duguit). All these issues were the subject of analysis in this article.