Civic Web

Political web sites and e-mail lists were novelties in 1996. By 2000, they were a news trend. By 2004, they will be a part of every electoral and policy campaign. News-seekers, activists, and decision makers increasingly turn to the Net as a matter of course. The Civic Web delineates the basic issues, opportunities, and dilemmas posed by the introduction of computer-networked communications into U.S. national politics. Leading scholars from several academic disciplines join pioneer practitioners of online advocacy, discussion, and law in considering how the Internet can host, and even advance, enlightened self-government by a free people in a constitutional republic.

Political web sites and e-mail lists were novelties in 1996. By 2000, they were a news trend. By 2004, they will be a part of every electoral and policy campaign. News-seekers, activists, and decision-makers increasingly turn to the Net as a matter of course. The Civic Web delineates the basic issues, opportunities, and dilemmas posed by the introduction of computer-networked communications into U.S. national politics. Leading scholars from several academic disciplines join pioneer practitioners of online advocacy, discussion, and law in considering how the Internet can host, and even advance, enlightened self-government by a free people in a constitutional republic.

David M. Anderson is associate research professor at The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. He directs the Democracy Online Project's national task force, and contributes op-eds frequently to the Baltimore Sun. Michael Cornfield is associate research professor at The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. He directs research for the Democracy Online Project, and writes a monthly column on online politics for Campaigns and Elections magazine.