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The Myth of Digital Democracyby: Matthew Hindman
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Notes for this articleIs the internet making politics less exclusive? Is it empowering ordinary citizens? Is it 'democratising' American politics?
'Paradoxically, the extreme "openness" of the Internet has fueled the creation of new political elites. The Internet's success at democratising politics are real. Yet the medium's failures in this regard are less acknowledged and ultimately just as profound." (4)
A definition of democratization which looks at it descriptively presumes that the internet will amplify the political voice of ordinary citizens. But does it?
One of the issues considered by the book is the question of 'voice' - particularly as taken up by political philosphers such as Habermas in his discussions of deliberative democracy. Basic argument: democracy is more than bargaining and aggregating preferences; true participation requires citizens to engage in direct discussion with other citizens - this is the public sphere and it is this which adherent to the view hold will be expanded through the internet. The question is how to make the participation in the envigorated public sphere equal and meaningfully equal in practice.
Th einternet may have little impact on the politics because of: the digital divide (access and skills)
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Posting History AbstractIs the Internet democratizing American politics? Do political Web sites and blogs mobilize inactive citizens and make the public sphere more inclusive? _The Myth of Digital Democracy_ reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the Internet has done little to broaden political discourse but in fact empowers a small set of elites--some new, but most familiar. Matthew Hindman argues that, though hundreds of thousands of Americans blog about politics, blogs receive only a miniscule portion of Web traffic, and most blog readership goes to a handful of mainstream, highly educated professionals. He shows how, despite the wealth of independent Web sites, online news audiences are concentrated on the top twenty outlets, and online organizing and fund-raising are dominated by a few powerful interest groups. Hindman tracks nearly three million Web pages, analyzing how their links are structured, how citizens search for political content, and how leading search engines like Google and Yahoo! funnel traffic to popular outlets. He finds that while the Internet has increased some forms of political participation and transformed the way interest groups and candidates organize, mobilize, and raise funds, elites still strongly shape how political material on the Web is presented and accessed. _The Myth of Digital Democracy_. debunks popular notions about political discourse in the digital age, revealing how the Internet has neither diminished the audience share of corporate media nor given greater voice to ordinary citizens.
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