Synopses & Reviews
Is the Internet destined to upset traditional political power in the United States? This book answers with an emphatic "no." Author Richard Davis shows how current political players including candidates, public officials, and the media are adapting to the Internet and assuring that this new medium benefits them in their struggle for power. In doing so he examines the current function of the Internet in democratic politics--educating citizens, conducting electoral campaigns, gauging public opinion, and achieving policy resolution-- and the roles of current political actors in those functions. Davis's unconventional prediction concerning the Internet's impact on American politics warrants a closer look by anyone interested in learning how this new communication medium will affect us politically.
Review
"A well-researched and finely detailed account of virtual politics today."--W. Lance Bennett, University of Washington
About the Author
Richard Davis is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University. He is the co-author of
New Media and American Politics (with Diana Owen, Oxford, 1998), and the author of
The Press and American Politics: The New Mediator, 2nd Ed. (1996),
Decisions and Images: The Supreme Court and the Press (1994), and
Politics and the Media (1994).
Table of Contents
Foreword,
Norman Ornstein, The American Enterprise InstituteIntroduction: Enter the Internet
ONE. Communications Technology and Democracy
TWO. Surfing for News
THREE. Electronic Lobbying
FOUR. The Virtual Campaign
FIVE. www.gov
SIX. The Virtual Public
SEVEN. The Internet as Participatory Forum