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I too am concerned that without "democratic intent" the application of online tools in democracy will not lead to better democracies. It has been years since I have run into anyone claiming the Internet is a "sliver bullet" for democracy. To present a false cyberoptimist approach and knock it down is too easy. Instead we need to challenge ourselves and say that for all the bad things the Internet is/can do to our democracies/communities/forms of citizen participation what are the positive online things we must develop and invest in so we can at least preserve (hopefully enhance) our democracies. More on this theme: http://www.publicus.net/articles/future.html#E-Citizens The jury is still out on whether the Internet as a whole and all its uses will be good or bad for democracy. I do believe that the default may be negative unless more people, foundations, governments, the media and others roll up their sleeves and ensure that the demonstrated successful e-democracy practices are spread and developed universally across all democracies. I enjoy discovering leading e-democracy examples. The share their stories far and wide with the hope and belief that others will take them up, build on those successes, and lead to a virtuous circle of development all in the name of improving not just our democracies, but also the lives of people in the communities, nations, and world in which we live. Should I believe this? Are we investing as we should? Are we moving fast enough? Are we running out of time? I don't know. Steven Clift Democracies Online P.S. Thank you Frank Bannister for pointing out the story below. From: http://news.ft.com/comment/columnists/neweconomy Direct: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/ StoryFT/FullStory&cid=1028186097523&p=1020498309075 - one line Eli Noam: The web is bad for democracy Published: August 28 2002 19:46 | Last Updated: August 28 2002 19:46 People may disagree on the impact of the internet on culture and the economy, but they seem to be pretty unanimous when it comes to its positive effects on democracy. But maybe this balloon, too, needs to be pricked. My scepticism about the internet as a democratic force is not based on its uneven distribution. It is more systemic. Observers tend to commit the error of composition, confusing the qualities of the parts with the qualities of the whole. They think that if something is helpful to an individual or group, it will also be helpful to society at large when everybody uses it. The alleged time-saving properties of the automobile are an example of this fallacy: does it really take less time today to get to work than it used to? ... Of course, the internet makes some political activity cheaper. But it does so for everyone. Thus, any gains made by early adopters will soon be matched by their rivals and will simply lead to an expensive and mutually stalemating political arms race of investment in customisation techniques and new media marketing technologies. The early users of the internet experienced an increase in their effectiveness, and messianically extrapolate this to society at large. The gain was trumpeted as the empowerment of the individual over Big Government and Big Business, but much of it has simply been an temporary strengthening of individuals and groups with computer and online skills (who usually have significantly above-average income and education) and a relative weakening of those without such resources. Government did not become more responsive due to the online users; it just became more responsive to them. ... The internet will lower the quality of political discourse An increase in the quantity of information does not mean that its average quality rises. On the contrary, as the internet leads to more information clutter, messages will have to get louder in order to be heard. Mainstream political information, therefore, will inevitably become even more distorted, shrill and simplistic. One of the effects of the internet is the elimination of the intermediaries that stand between service providers and the consumer. For politics, the decline of traditional news media and their information screening would not necessarily be a good thing at all. True, gatekeeping has negative aspects, too, but screening and organising information also helps audiences. When information comes unfiltered, it overwhelms and leads to the creation of rumour, disinformation and last-minute political ambush. Direct access to public officials will be bogus Yes, anybody can fire off e-mail messages to public officials and perhaps even get a reply, and this may provide an illusion of access. But one limited resource will be even scarcer: the attention of those officials. By necessity, only a few messages will get through. If anything, the flood of messages will make the power-brokers that can provide access more important than ever. Not to mention the fact that apparent outpourings of public opinion can be mass-produced. Instead of grass roots, technology can end up creating political astroturf. The internet facilitates the international manipulation of domestic politics Cross-border interference in national politics becomes easier with the internet. Why negotiate with the US ambassador if one can target a key Congressional chairman though an e-mail campaign, chat group interventions, misinformation and untraceable donations? People worry about computer attacks by terrorists. They should also worry about state-sponsored interference in other countries' politics through electronics. ... end of clip ... Comment here: http://forums.ft.com/2/OpenTopic ?a=tpc&s=646099322&f=890094803&m=3723092676&r=3723092676#3723092676 (put on online line) ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Past Messages, Discussion http://e-democracy.org/do *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To UNSUBSCRIBE instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. *** *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
