Electronic Democracy

By Claudia Lynch, Benchmarks Editor (lynch@unt.edu)

Electronic Democracy is an expression of the information age. According to Lewis A. Friedland, "the concept of 'electronic democracy' connotes a radically new form of democratic practice modified by new information technologies."1 Through the technology of the Internet, people have greater access to government agencies and information. They also have the ability to disseminate that information rapidly to large numbers of people - thus promoting grass-roots organizations and activism.

In his senior thesis, The Network Nation Revisited, David Belson notes that "Grass-roots political movements, thanks to the electronic interconnection of millions of people, are now more powerful than ever before. Supporters of candidates, as well as the candidates themselves, can now share information in a matter of minutes."2

Whereas it took years for information and ideas to circulate by hand and to arrange the face-to-face meetings that drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, computer networks can greatly speed up the process of people-to-people exchanges of information, ideas, and plans of actions. Of course, not only small or 'splinter' groups recognize this potential. By the 1980's in the United States, many presidential campaign organizations were using CMC [Computer Mediated Communication] to organize their nationwide efforts. By the 1992 campaign, the Democratic candidate was uploading position papers directly into Compuserve, and Ross Perot was promising an 'electronic town hall' that would directly involve citizens in debates and preference votes, should he be elected. (Newsweek, June 22, 1992, quoted in Belson, 1994)

Obviously this has the potential for both positive and negative results.3 People voting on a whim, from their living rooms, might not be the best way to run a country. On the other hand, informed voters are the glue that holds our representative democracy together. As James Madison wrote, "A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prelude to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."4

Getting your Feet Wet

The Kennedy School Online (KSGOPIN - http://ksgwww.harvard.edu/~ksgpress/opinhome.htm) is a great place to begin your electronic journey into politics. This Web page is divided into twelve major areas: Elections; Parties, Candidates; Federal Government; State/Local Government; Think Tanks; Advocacy; International; Academia; More Politics; Politics of the Net; Reporters' Resources; Good Directories. Each area, in turn, is broken up into sub-areas, with links to just about any sort of political information that is available on the World Wide Web. If you followed all the links listed, it would probably take you the better part of a day.

Another good jumping off point is The National Political index (http://www.politicalindex.com/). The National Political Index is sponsored by Americans Who Work for a Living (AWWL), a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) organization. This site has links to just about any kind of political information you can think of - federal, state, local and even "un-elected Beltway VIP's."

Open Government in Progress

For a look at electronic democracy at work, try the California 1996 Primary Election Server (http://ca96.election.digital.com/). It is a good example of what can be done to keep voters informed and involved.

An entire electronic "community" dedicated to the concept of electronic democracy can be found at Democracy Place (http://democracyplace.org/). According to their welcome message, "This is your town on the Internet for civic journalism and citizen participation in the public policy debate. Here you'll find the information you need to understand the issues of this campaign year - stories, interviews, polls, and much more. You'll find tools you can use to make your voice heard. You'll find a community of other citizens who want to get involved. You'll find outstanding examples of civic journalism projects in Democracy Forum, where ordinary people, not politicians, set the agenda."

Another site that is involved with electronic democracy at the community level is the Civic Practices Network (http://www.cpn.org/cpn.html). According to their Web site, "Civic Practices Network (CPN) is a collaborative and nonpartisan project bringing together a diverse array of organizations and perspectives within the new citizenship movement. We share a commitment to bring practical methods for public problem solving into every community and institutional setting in America."

Communicate with Congress

There are lists of Congressional E-mail addresses all over the Internet. The two listed below are Web-based forms and allow you to find out who your representatives are, in case you don't remember.

If those aren't enough for you, links to similar Web sites can be found at http://www.seas.gwu.edu/seas/ictsp/deliverance/other-sites.html

Voters Guides/Information

If you're looking for specific information to better inform yourself about candidates for an upcoming election, the sites listed below should be of help to you.

Presidential Campaign Pages

Quite a few people want to be president this year. Below are the Web pages of the candidates who will appear on most ballots.

If you're interested in keeping up with the latest opinion polls on these candidates (or at least the first 3), the Gallup Organization is providing that service at http://www.gallup.com/news/index.html.

Register to vote on-line

Well almost - you can download the National Mail Voter Registration form, available from the Federal Election Commission (http://www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm).5 If you really want to register on-line, check out MCI's "first comprehensive online voter registration site on the World Wide Web" (http://netvote96.mci.com/register.html). The same caveats for the Federal Election Commission form exist for on-line registration. If your permanent residence is in North Dakota or Wyoming, you can"t register on-line.

Global Election Information

If you still haven't gotten enough of politics on the net and want more, you might be interested in the Elections and Electoral Systems Web page. Information about elections and electroal systems world-wide can be found there at http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/po/election.htm. Happy browsing!

1 "Electronic Democracy and the New Citizenship" (http://www.cpn.org/sections/new_citizenship/e-dem&new_citizenship1.html)

2 http://www.stevens-tech.edu/~dbelson/thesis/thesis.html

3 See "Cyberhoax: Lie spreads on Internet," for a negative example of electronic democracy.

4 As quoted in "The Future of News" by Howard Rheingold (http://www.rtndf.org/rtndf/new/reingold.htm)

5 If your permanent residence is in the following states, you could have a problem.


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