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Introduction |
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Within minutes of Al Gore's
announcement of Senator Joseph Leiberman as his running mate in the 2000
U.S.
presidential election, the story had topped major news websites around
the world. Within hours, his choice was being debated in hundreds of
online discussion groups.
The effort to encourage and increase
political participation among citizens has become an issue of increasing
importance among concerned governments, political theorists and
activists alike. As the
evolution and widespread use of the Internet has progressed, effort to
increase political participation has now entered the realms of online
communication. In the midst
of the mass media age and the emergence of the world wide web, some have
questioned the effectiveness of the Internet to actually increase
political participation. The
Internet offers fresh ideas and debates as it celebrates freedom of
speech, for it allows people the ability to amass factual data, voice
their perspectives, confront and debate other points of view.
Through this medium, people have an unprecedented ability to
speak directly to one another as technology now allows for people all
over the world to share ideas and opinions.
Research and subsequent data have shown that the Internet can be
utilized as a means of increasing political participation, which can
include spheres such as activism and voting, particularly within younger
populations.
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| Activism |
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By providing an infinite number of
mediums through which individuals are able to participate in politics and
access information, the Internet can result in a more informed society and more active citizens. Thanks to the web, it is far easier
for an individual to immerse oneself in a wide array of opinions, surround oneself with networks
of like-minded people, and assert a place in public political culture
through the establishment of a web page and links. On
the Internet, individuals can form a public political presence and
establish an identity within a political group at any given moment.
With
minimal effort, individuals themselves can also produce political chats
by setting up amateur political homepages.
Such sites, which pursue topics including political commentary
and humor, are bountiful and easily accessible to anyone on the web. Moreover,
such web pages can also be built to support personal opinions of
political heroes or conversely attack political enemies, as well as of
political parties and organizations. On
the Internet, individuals have the capability to assert their identity,
share their vision and aggregate resources for like-minded people. Thus,
the Internet can be an effective informational and organizational tool,
as websites allow individuals to not only stay up-to-date with the
latest issues, but also help in organizing, publicizing, and calling
individuals to take action. |
Voting
 | "The fact that the vast majority of Americans
who use the Internet consider it an important information source -
even though it has been commonly available for only a few years -
vividly demonstrates how this technology is transforming the
political process and the knowledge of voters." —
Jeffrey Cole, director of the
UCLA
Center
for Communication Policy and head of the World Internet Project |
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Access to the Internet and online
political information may enhance voter information about candidates and
elections, which can thus stimulate increased interest and citizen
participation. At the same
time
, the Internet may only increase turnout among those who are already
predisposed to vote, such as those with higher socioeconomic status.
The impact of the Internet on political participation is
important for democracy, not only for assessing the desirability of
online voting systems, but also to prevent new election procedures that
could lead to detrimental consequences for low income
groups and ethnic minorities. While
the Internet may increase political participation, it must also be noted
that all do not have equal access to the World Wide Web.
This is the foundation of the issue known as the digital divide,
which is discussed in another section of this website.
In
2000, there was a significant reduction in the political coverage of the
party conventions by mainstream media, increasing the migration of
coverage to the Internet. As
one can see, traditional forms of media exposure are changing in
response to growing trends of individuals utilizing the web as one of
their main sources for gathering news and information.
According to various political analysts, the reality of online
voting and voter registration should be seen in a number of states by
the 2004 presidential elections. Through
these new online voting options, an increase in voter turnout can be
anticipated, as individuals would not have to leave their home or office
to cast a vote. At the
University of Notre Dame, student body presidential elections were
transferred from traditional paper votes to an electronic online
version. Consequently, an
increase in student participation of such elections was noted, which
many believe to be the result of the convenience online voting offers. |
| Younger Populations and Participation |
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According to a recent survey of random
University of Notre Dame students, the majority of students agreed that
the Internet has increased their political participation.
One of the great hopes for the Internet is that this technology
will encourage political participation, especially among those
individuals ages 18-34, which normally have very low voter turnout. As
research points out, over 40 percent of this age group does not use
traditional news outlets, thereby causing many to believe that use of
technology popular with young individuals, such as the Internet, can be
utilized to encourage voting and revitalize the political culture.
Interestingly, research completed in
Britain
found similar results to those found in the
United States, finding that 63 percent of people who have used the internet to
contact a political organization said they would not have done so if
they would have had to rely on traditional methods such as by phone or
mail.
While voter participation is only one mode and indicator of
participation, many of the youth in the
U.S.
today have little or no idea how to vote, where to vote, or even the
reason to vote, much less be informed about political candidates and
their corresponding platforms. Youth
spend much more time than older generations with media, often solitary,
either surfing the Internet or watching television.
In order to increase youth civic engagement, the internet can be
employed to reach out to these individuals and allow convenient access
to information on candidates and the possibility to vote directly on the
web as well, thereby increasing political participation overall.
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| Links |
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http://www.reed.edu/~gronkep/webofpolitics/projects/techandparticipation/particip.html
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A
final research project by political science undergraduates which
discusses various future technological advances and their
consequential effect on political participation.
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http://pro.harvard.edu/abstracts/049/049001TolbertCar.htm
| Copy
of a paper prepared to be delivered at the 2001 Annual Meeting of
the American Political Science Association by Caroline Tolbert and
Ramona McNeal.
The paper, entitled “Does the Internet Increase Voter
Participation in Elections?,” discussed how respondents with
access to the Internet and online political information were
significantly more likely to report turning out to vote in the 1996
and 200 presidential elections. |
http://www.alexandrasamuel.com/netpolitics/content.html
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Syllabi
for a political science course taught at the
University
of
British
Columbia
entitled Topics in Comparative Politics: Internet and Politics.
The course spent some time on issues of political
participation and the internet. |
http://www.college.ucla.edu/internet.htm
| UCLA
website on a study performed on the internet and its usage for
political participation. |
http://students.washington.edu/abbrown/methods.html
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Interview
of Kirsten Foot, one of the co-authors of the article “Online
Action in Campaign 2000” on ways in which online political
participation works. |
http://education.ucsb.edu/~bazerman/cyberpolitics.html
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University
of
California
article on political participation in the age of the internet
. |
http://www.stanford.edu/group/adolescent.ctr/Conference/2000/confpap.html
| Written
transcript of a conference on increasing political participation in
adolescents and young adults. |
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