Digital technology is changing our politics. The World Wide Web is already a powerful influence on the public’s access to government documents, the tactics and content of political campaigns, the behavior of voters, the efforts of activists to circulate their messages, and the ways in which topics enter the public discourse. The essays collected here capture the richness of current discourse about democracy and cyberspace. Some contributors offer front-line perspect… More >>
This is a solid book on democracy and new media written from a humanist tradition. If you are look for empirical work on the subject, look elsewhere. The book is a compilation of articles comprising the top scholars in the field. The authors philosophize about the relationship between democracy and new media from a variety of perspectives: The first section of the book explores whether cyberspace is democratic or not and seems to suggest that democracy on the Internet may not come with a capital D. Some of my favorite chapters in this section were Philip Agre’s “Growing a Democratic Culture,” Amitai Etzioni’s “Are Virtual and Democratic Communities Feasible,” and Nolan Bowier’s retrospective view from 2008, which was published in 2004. Some of the projections in these chapters have been proven quite accurate over time. The second section is of special interest for it explores global developments on new media and democracy. I say “of special interest” because even today there is scant theory on the subject, so the consideration of this subject was useful. I particularly liked the chapter on Cuba by Cristina Venegas, who is becoming quite prolific on the subject. The final section explored the relationship between news and information in the digital age. Not surprisingly, the predictions are somewhat bleak for the media establishment: The role of the expert is being eroded by the grassroots journalist.
Rating: 5 / 5