Introduction of an e-voting system in Azerbaijan: readiness of citizens and government

Abstract

Citizen-centric public services are currently a popular subject of discussion. E-voting services are increasingly popular. However, academic research has given relatively little attention to this phenomenon due to its recent emergence in Azerbaijan. The issue of citizens' and government readiness to accept such services remains unexplored in Azerbaijan. Government and citizens' acceptance is crucial for the successful implementation of personalized public service provision. This thesis investigates government and citizens' readiness for e-voting services. This study seeks to establish the preparedness of government and citizens for e-voting services and determine the primary factors that affect it. The author queries whether Azerbaijan's citizens and government are prepared for the implementation of an electronic voting system. When it comes to the readiness of Azerbaijani citizens for electronic voting, it is approached from the perspective of their level of technological readiness and trust in electronic services. In the context of the Azerbaijani government's readiness, legal, political, and IT infrastructure readiness issues were considered. A comprehensive analysis of literature on technology, politics, legal, social, infrastructure preparedness was conducted. The author employed a qualitative research method by administering interviews to collect data. The interviews yielded valuable insights towards achieving the objective of the master thesis and addressing the research question. Based on the analysis conducted on the basis of the research work, it was determined that the citizens and the government of Azerbaijan are partially ready for electronic voting. There is a need for a more thorough analysis of the readiness of Azerbaijani citizens for the social perspective. There is also a problem with the readiness of the government in the political context and serious reforms are needed in this area.