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.

        • Deliverance (http://www.seas.gwu.edu/seas/ictsp/deliverance/intro.html) gives you a simple way to communicate with Congress and prompts you to think about what you're asking for also.
        • Email Democracy (http://syninfo.com/emaildem/emaildem.html) exhorts "Why waste paper, time, and money? 81 Senators and 176 Representatives have email addresses as of 2/18/96. Communicate electronically with your Representatives in government."

        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.

        • Capweb (http://policy.net/capweb/congress.html) - An Unofficial Guide to the U.S. Congress.
        • Civic Practices Network (http://www.cpn.org/) - "A learning collaborative for civic renewal."
        • Federal Election Commission Home Page (http://www.fec.gov/) - Information about election regulations and more.
        • The Jefferson Project (http://www.voxpop.org/jefferson/) - "The comprehensive guide to on-line politics."
        • League of Women Voters ( http://www.lwv.org/~lwvus/) - "The League of Women Voters is a multi-issue organization whose mission is to encourage the informed and active participation of citizens in government and to influence public policy through education and advocacy."
        • Netizen (http://www.netizen.com/netizen/) - Wired Magazine's online election project.
        • NetVote '96 ( http://www.internetuniv.com/netvote96/) - A voters' guide for young people from Internet University.
        • Policy Street (http://www.policy.com/) - An aggregation of think tanks and advocacy groups. Lots of good information and lots of links.
        • Power the Vote (http://www.lhj-lwv.com/) - Brought to you by the League of Women Voters and the Ladies Home Journal.
        • Project Vote Smart (http://www.vote-smart.org/) - a non-partisan clearing house for political information.
        • Rock the Vote (http://www.rockthevote.org/) - MTV's voting guide.

        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.

        • Bill Clinton (http://www.cg96.org/) - Campaigning for four more years of elected office.
        • Bob Dole (http://www.dole96.com/) - Presumptive Republican Party nominee.
        • Reform Party (http://www.reformparty.org/) - Will they nominate Ross Perot or Richard Lamm?
        • Harry Browne (http://www.HarryBrowne96.org/) - Libertarian Party presidential candidate.
        • Ralph Nader (http://www.rahul.net/cameron/nader/) - Green Party candidate.
        • Mary Cal Hollis (http://sunsite.unc.edu/spc/prez/index.html) - Socialist Party candidate.

        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.

        • At the present time, Illinois, and Mississippi will accept this application as a registration to vote for federal offices only (President, U.S. Senator, & U.S. Representative). This means, for instance, that you would not be able to vote in an election for the Governor of your State.
        • New Hampshire town and city clerks will accept this application only as a request for their own mail-in absentee voter registration form
        • North Dakota does not have voter registration
        • Vermont town and city clerks will accept this application only as a request for their State mail-in voter registration form
        • Wyoming cannot accept this form under State law.

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