Internet And Politics Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

At no other time in the history of American politics has the Internet been considered such a major factor in the mobilization of the electorate than during the 2008 election. From the grassroots fund-raising efforts of the Obama campaign to the mass mobilization activities to get supporters in many localities to engage in various political participation activities, the Internet was indeed a force in bringing about the success of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The big question now becomes, Is the Internet going to be a permanent feature of American politics, especially when this generation of candidates and voters will bring such technological knowledge with them?

The Internet is a set of many networks linking together millions of computers to send and receive data. It allows for the facilitation of communication, especially one-to-many communication. The Internet began in the 1960s as a Department of Defense project called the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPANET. Although purely a defense project, it found its next greatest use in academia in the 1970s and 1980s with the growth in computing for research. As computers became smaller and faster, the age of personal computing brought the technology into the hands of the ordinary user. People have found use for computers in various business tasks, so the commercialization of the Internet has gained in importance. E-mail is the most common Internet activity, followed by entertainment. Beyond commerce for both employment and consumer activities, the next most common use of the Internet is obtaining political news. Other uses include health-related activities, education, and religious activity.

Uses In Politics

The Internet plays a substantial role in politics and government today. In 1993 the White House went online with the introduction of the Web site www.whitehouse.gov. The 1996 and 1998 campaigns were benchmark years for when democracy met the Internet. The dawning of netocracy was hailed because the use of the Internet created active participatory netizens. The Howard Dean presidential campaign is considered a precursor to the Obama campaign in its initial use of the Internet as a method of fund-raising, campaigning, and mobilizing citizens to engage in active participation in the political process beyond the act of voting. By 2004 the Internet would serve as an integral part of any campaign. Part of the success of the Obama campaign can be attributed to a large Web presence that allowed ordinary citizens to participate in the process through small contributions, house parties, bake sales, and so forth. Even after the election was won, the Web continued to be used by Obama supporters to inform people about the direction of the country and as a way to solicit and maintain continued support of Obama policies.

Beyond the White House, the entire executive branch of government has a Web presence. Both houses of Congress have Web portals at www.senate.gov and www.house.gov, where members of Congress can inform their constituents about their voting records, legislation that they have sponsored, their personal biographies, and much more. The U.S. Supreme Court has a Web presence at www.supremecourtus.gov, and materials on the site include court cases, rulings, and opinions.

The various components and institutions in the political system also have their presence on the Web. Political parties major (Republican and Democratic) and minor (Libertarian and Progressive) inform their supporters as well as would-be detractors about their platforms and goals. Major interest groups such as the National Rifle Association and the American Association of Retired Persons likewise find that having materials on the Internet allows them to make their presence felt. This allows for activism and political engagement to take place at the netroots. This form of direct democracy has been billed as what will connect citizens to mass decision-making processes. Media sources at all levels—newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal), magazines (Time, Newsweek, The Economist), and television (CNN, FOX, ABC)—can also be found on the Web.

Most major countries in the world have found uses for a Web presence: to inform the world of their existence, to lure those who have the money and the curiosity to visit them, or to facilitate communication from government to government or from citizen to citizen through exchanges of e-mails and the sharing of audio and video. Although the state of technological development in a country may provide insight into the usefulness of the Internet to deliver basic needs to its citizens, the digital divide is a constant reminder that gaps between wealth and poverty will prevent billions of people from availing themselves of the advantages of connectivity.

Whereas initial interest in the Internet for government was geared toward providing information to constituents, today it allows for more than that, including greater interaction so political mobilization can take place. Those who favor going electronic in various facets of our lives believe that the Internet will ultimately strengthen democracy through information dissemination and mobilization. As the Net becomes more integrated into our lives it will be an integral method for discussing political issues such as cyber law cases, gambling and pornography on the Internet, online voting, and debates at the national and international levels regarding the impact of the so-called digital divide.

Positive And Negative Aspects

The Internet has challenged the responsiveness of government to the needs of the revitalization of democracy. Although some political scientists contend that political life online is a mere extension of political life offline, it is also another medium through which expressions of political activity can be channeled. Positive political consequences have come about as a result of the popularization of the Internet. It has allowed for greater political access to those otherwise not able to make their thoughts and ideas known. It has been used by various groups to engage in agenda building and agenda setting and is a powerful tool in voting, campaigning, fund-raising, and mobilizing volunteers.

Proponents of the use of the Internet in government say that it makes government more responsive, more efficient, and less bureaucratic. The greater transparency that Web presence brings could prevent government from withholding or censoring information. However, information delivered can be only as reliable and credible as the producers of the information allow, and therefore misinformation, deception, and manipulation can still take place.

Many see the Internet becoming as available as the telephone and television. Idealists believe the Internet holds promise for narrowing the digital gap and bringing about democracy and world peace. However, it can be just as instrumental in spreading hate and bigotry—just as the Internet can help spread freedom, it can also be used to curtail it. There are things that the Internet cannot do. As an alternative mode of communication and participation, it will not lead to the triumph of direct democracy. It does not automatically give power to the powerless. It has the potential to reinforce existing relationships of elite domination due to the persistence of the digital divide. And with billions of people worldwide still not online, it will not automatically build a global village without borders.

Bibliography:

Bard, Alexander, and Jan Soderquist. Netocracy. London: Pearson Education, 2002.
Crumlish, Christian. The Power of Many. Alameda, Calif.: Sybex, 2004.
Davis, Richard. The Web of Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Feld, Lowell, and Nate Wilcox. Netroots Rising. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2008.
Klotz, Robert J. The Politics of Internet Communication. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004.
Margolis, Michael, and David Resnick. Politics as Usual. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2000.
Saco, Diana. Cybering Democracy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.
Selnow, Gary W. Electronic Whistle-stops. Connecticut: Praeger, 1998.
Speed,Tim, and Juanita Ellis. Internet Security. Amsterdam: Digital, 2003.
Sunstein, Cass. Republic.com. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001.
Van De Donk,Wim, Brian D. Loader, Paul G. Nixon, and Dieter Rucht, eds. Cyberprotest. London: Routledge, 2004.

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