THE INTERNET AND DEMOCRACY: THE CAUSAL LINKS BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICS

Abstract

This paper strives to explicate the causal links between changing technology and democratic governance. Its overarching goal is to define the relevant concepts of communication and governance and more importantly, to focus empirical observations on the critical dimensions of a multifaceted phenomenon. The analysis focuses on three key links in this causal chain. The first is the effects of technological in novation on different communication activities. The second link involves the role communication and information play in democratic governance. The final is the social and political mechanisms by which technological innovations are introduced within and transform democratic processes and institutions. We argue that a sharper understanding of these three essential links will enable the growing numbers of researchers interested in electronic democracy to employ the massive social experiment the Internet represents to clarify and further democratic theory itself. The rise of the Internet has led to a burgeoning literature on the probable effects of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) on democratic processes. The breadth of the debate is impressive, largely due to the complexity of democratic governance and the historic implications of the information age. Those venturing into this literature, however, are met with a confusing tangle of propositions, many of which are contradictory and all of which are interrelated in unexplicated ways. Fears of social polarization due to inequitable access to ICTs or of increasing govern-ment intrusion into our private lives are juxtaposed against the promise of rejuvenated political participation engendered by new communication channels. Visions of citizens being empowered by ubiquitous access to government information are tempered by warnings of information overload. This paper strives to clarify the links between changing technology and democratic governance. Analysts observe technology driving a number of profound changes in our communication systems: costs are plummeting, advanced capabilities are becoming increasingly easy to use, interconnected networks enable users to access information stored on millions of computers, the Internet enables whole new populations to broadcast content, and real time as well as asynchronous multicasting support entirely new modes of communication. Unfortunately, much of the writing on electronic democracy treats technological advance as a deus ex machina inextricably leading to a certain final outcome. Critical causal links remain implicit. In what ways does the Internet improve and qualitatively change existing and already quite advanced communication systems? What specific roles do information and communication play in democratic governance? What are the social and political mechanisms by which technologies affect democratic processes and institutions? Greater attention to these linkages is warranted for a number of reasons. Both democratic governance and modern communication systems are complex and multifaceted. Theory is needed to define the relevant concepts and to focus empirical observations on the critical dimensions of these phenomena. Moreover, the history of technological prognostication is littered with faulty predictions of the impacts of new technologies.[1] These impacts only become apparent slowly over many years, and they are often small and unanticipated.[2] Consequently, researchers require a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena under investigation to interpret the long-run implications of intermediate outcomes. Finally, with a sharper understanding of the linkages between technology and governance, researchers will be better prepared to employ the massive social experiment represented by the Internet to clarify and further democratic theory itself. This project extends well beyond the scope of a single paper, and our aims here are accordingly modest. We do not present a grand theory of communication technology and governmental reform. Rather, we define the necessary elements of such a theory and elaborate these elements employing existing concepts from communication studies, political science, and other disciplines. The paper proceeds as follows. We begin by noting five empirical observations that must shape theory. Then we proceed to define and discuss three necessary elements of a theory of communication technology and democracy. Conclusions follow.