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Abstract (Top)
Trends toward government by and for corporations and big money, growing political and economic inequalities, unprecedented citizen disengagement, distrust of government, politicians, elections, the courts, governmental secrecy, erosion of civil liberties, and global distain are symptoms of an American democracy in trouble. This project explores whether the recent mushrooming of grass roots political actions via the Internet heralds a solution right under our noses. The first objective is to learn how Internet technology released the pent-up longing of legions of informed, educated, and competent citizens to participate in policy-making. Will this phenomenon evolve into the institutional means by which the American people find expression in a representative democracy? Will this phenomenon become an independent force in American politics powerful enough to check over-reaching governments and corporations and restore balance? Is this the solution that has eluded philosophers for centuries because they simply could not have foreseen today's army of educated, informed, and technically savvy citizens and the potential for unlimited connectivity on the Internet? The authors' tentative answer is that this new phenomenon is the long awaited solution because it emanates from the bottom-up, where its precursor is participation in local politics and needs only the authority given the people in the Constitution. No top-down laws or structural changes are necessary from those with vested interests in the status quo. The second major objective of this project is to look inside this spontaneous citizen participation process to learn how it can be nurtured to become a full-fledged public interest institution and to develop a set of guidelines for citizen leaders and participants. Hopefully, this will stimulate and guide the creation and operation of new Public Interest Nets in the ways of successful prototypes like Moveon.org and help restore health to the American political system.
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