Engendering Democratic Participation via the Net: Access, Voice and Dialogue

Abstract

Information technology in the form of the Internet and its commercial offspring (referred to in this article collectively as the Net) has received much attention as a vehicle to increase political participation. In this article, we explore the potential of the Net, a vast, loosely coupled system of electronic forums, for facilitating and hindering democratic participation. In so doing, we identify five assumptions that undergird the claim that the Net will enhance democratic participation and suggest that increased democratic participation rests on three fundamental characteristics: access, voice, and dialogue. In order for this network of electronic forums to facilitate democratic participation, educational, economic, and cultural barriers to access, voice, and dialogue must be overcome. The final part of this article raises additional challenges to realizing democracy via the Net.