Synopses & Reviews
What happens to democracy and free speech if people use the Internet to create echo chambers--to listen and speak only to the like-minded? What is the democratic benefit of the Internet's unlimited choices if citizens narrowly limit the information they receive, creating ever-smaller niches and fragmenting the shared public conversation on which democracy depends? Cass Sunstein first asked these questions before 9/11, in Republic.com, and they have become even more urgent in the years since.
Now, in Republic.com 2.0, Sunstein thoroughly rethinks the critical relationship between democracy and the Internet in a world where partisan Web logs have emerged as a significant force in politics and where cyber-jihadists have embraced the Internet to thwart democracy and spread violence.
Emphasizing the value of unplanned, unchosen encounters, the original Republic.com provoked a strong reaction from cyber-optimists. In Republic.com 2.0 Sunstein answers the critics and expands his argument to take account of new developments, including the blogosphere, and fresh evidence about how people are using the Internet. He demonstrates that the real question is how to avoid information cocoons and to ensure that the unrestricted choices made possible by technology do not undermine democracy. Sunstein also proposes new remedies and reforms--focusing far less on what government should do, and much more on what consumers and producers should do--to help democracy avoid the perils, and realize the promise, of the Internet.
Review
By its nature, Sunstein argues, the Web fragments us into ever-smaller niches. In this way, for all of its incredible, information-sharing connectivity, the Web can be isolating, especially when groups begin to 'echo chamber' and talk only to themselves...To my mind, Sunstein has always been lucid and valuable on this topic. But despite the Web's culture-changing successes--wiring up the economy, influencing presidential campaigns--many Web advocates and bloggers still act as though they're threatened. When they're not acting triumphalist, that is. Even the lightest guidelines, in short, will be resented, particularly when our confusion of free markets with free speech has proved so profitable.
Review
"To my mind, Sunstein has always been lucid and valuable on this topic."Jerome Weeks, The San Francisco Chronicle
Review
By its nature, Sunstein argues, the Web fragments us into ever-smaller niches. In this way, for all of its incredible, information-sharing connectivity, the Web can be isolating, especially when groups begin to 'echo chamber' and talk only to themselves...To my mind, Sunstein has always been lucid and valuable on this topic. But despite the Web's culture-changing successes--wiring up the economy, influencing presidential campaigns--many Web advocates and bloggers still act as though they're threatened. When they're not acting triumphalist, that is. Even the lightest guidelines, in short, will be resented, particularly when our confusion of free markets with free speech has proved so profitable.
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Praise for : "Complex and thoughtful . . . a slim, sleek volume perfectly designed to appeal to Internet-era attention spans . . .
Review
Lucid and thought-provoking, raises important concerns. . . . Carefully argued, well balanced, and accessible to a general audience.
Review
Praise for : "Cass Sunstein sounds a timely warning in this concise, sophisticated account of the rise of the internet culture. He argues that it is our very ability to wrap ourselves in our own tastes, views, and prejudices with the aid of technology that constitutes a real threat to the traditional democratic values.
Review
Praise for Republic.com: "Republic.com raises important and troubling questions about the effects of the Internet on a democratic society. -- Stephen Labaton, New York Times Book Review In this follow up to Republic.com, his first appraisal of technology's effect on public discourse, University of Chicago Law School professor Sunstein waxes pessimistic about today's 'nightmare' of limitless news and information options--and, more significantly, the limitless options for avoiding it....This perceptive volume effectively illuminates the contradictory impulses at the heart of the citizen-consumer. -- Publishers Weekly Republic.com 2.0 is a refreshing counter to overly optimistic perspectives on the internet and democracy, and Sunstein turns Utopian visions of the internet enabling individuals to gain access to exactly what they are interested in--'The Daily Me'--into a critical assessment of its potential for undermining democratic discourse. -- William Dutton, Times Higher Education [Sunstein] argues persuasively that the fragmented market for communications, which may cater to the desires of consumers, is harmful to the development of informed and moderate citizens because it limits or even makes impossible exposure to unsolicited, diverse, and occasionally unwelcome views, all of which are necessary in democracies....This book is a splendid antidote to the views of the utopian populists who equate democracy with information choice provided over the internet. -- B. Cooper, Choice Praise for Republic.com: "Cass Sunstein sounds a timely warning in this concise, sophisticated account of the rise of the internet culture. He argues that it is our very ability to wrap ourselves in our own tastes, views, and prejudices with the aid of technology that constitutes a real threat to the traditional democratic values. -- Peter Aspden, Financial Times By its nature, Sunstein argues, the Web fragments us into ever-smaller niches. In this way, for all of its incredible, information-sharing connectivity, the Web can be isolating, especially when groups begin to 'echo chamber' and talk only to themselves...To my mind, Sunstein has always been lucid and valuable on this topic. But despite the Web's culture-changing successes--wiring up the economy, influencing presidential campaigns--many Web advocates and bloggers still act as though they're threatened. When they're not acting triumphalist, that is. Even the lightest guidelines, in short, will be resented, particularly when our confusion of free markets with free speech has proved so profitable. -- Jerome Weeks, San Francisco Chronicle This book, now in a substantially revised edition, remains the most effective public work depicting this debate and urging on us this proper vision of a reasonable freedom. -- Charles Mathewes, Virginia Quarterly Review Lucid and thought-provoking, Republic.com 2.0 raises important concerns. . . . Carefully argued, well balanced, and accessible to a general audience. -- Elisabeth Herschbach, Metapsychology Online Reviews
Synopsis
What happens to democracy and free speech if people use the Internet to listen and speak only to the like-minded? What is the benefit of the Internet's unlimited choices if citizens narrowly filter the information they receive? Cass Sunstein first asked these questions in 2001's
Republic.com. Now, in
Republic.com 2.0, Sunstein thoroughly rethinks the critical relationship between democracy and the Internet in a world where partisan Weblogs have emerged as a significant political force.
Republic.com 2.0 highlights new research on how people are using the Internet, especially the blogosphere. Sunstein warns against "information cocoons" and "echo chambers," wherein people avoid the news and opinions that they don't want to hear. He also demonstrates the need to regulate the innumerable choices made possible by technology. His proposed remedies and reforms emphasize what consumers and producers can do to help avoid the perils, and realize the promise, of the Internet.
Synopsis
"Republic.com enraged many because it asked a set of uncomfortable questions that few had a way of answering. In this beautifully revised edition, Sunstein continues to press these difficult questions, not as an attack on new technologies but as a challenge to make them make democracy work. This is a compelling if sober set of questions from America's foremost legal scholar."--Lawrence Lessig, Stanford University
About the Author
Cass R. Sunstein is the Felix Frankfurter Professor at Harvard Law School. His many books include "Worst-Case Scenarios", "A Constitution of Many Minds", and, with Richard Thaler, "Nudge".
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Chapter One: The Daily Me 1
Chapter Two: An Analogy and an Ideal 19
Chapter Three: Polarization and Cybercascades 46
Chapter Four: Social Glue and Spreading Information 97
Chapter Five: Citizens 119
Chapter Six: Blogs 138
Chapter Seven: What's Regulation? A Plea 151
Chapter Eight: Freedom of Speech 165
Chapter Nine: Policies and Proposals 190
Chapter Ten: Republic.com 212
Acknowledgments 225
Notes 227
Index 241