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"Can the Internet Increase Political Participation?"
by Rabia Karakaya Polat
As access to the Internet and its use in various aspects of social life has diffused, the idea of using the technology to enhance democratic governance has also been widely debated. This is related to both the specific features of the Internet that are believed to contribute to democracy, and the increasing problems of democracy, especially declining interest and participation in politics. Many studies examine the extent to which the use of the Internet may enhance participation not only by making it more convenient and accessible, but also by introducing new modes of participation.
So, the question is whether the Internet can increase political participation. There is no simple answer to this. Research on the impact of political participation has been interested in various aspects of this question. Here I will touch upon three issues: the need to deconstruct the Internet, to benefit from theories of political participation, and to consider the implications of “digital divide”.
Deconstructing the Internet:
The plethora of online political groups and activism certainly signals the potential of the Internet for political engagement and participation. However, the debate about the role of the Internet for political participation has to consider that the Internet is a multifaceted phenomenon. It is necessary to explore the promises and limitations of the Internet by deconstructing the medium into its different facets through which political participation could be enhanced. I have argued elsewhere (Polat, 2005) that three specific facets of the Internet should be explored in more detail:
• Internet as an information source
Many observers assume that the Internet contributes to more participation because it enables easier access to a high volume of information, thus encouraging a more informed society. The claim is that this in turn may lead to more participation. However, the linkages between more information and more participation are not self-evident. First, is there a link between the Internet and increased levels of information? Second, is there a link between increased levels of information and political participation? With the availability of the Internet, at least potentially, there could be an approximation to a situation of perfect knowledge in which citizens know everything about all policy issues. However, this assumes that people are interested enough to obtain that information. It also assumes that they have the access and necessary skills. More importantly, from a political science perspective, even if the Internet contributes to an informed society, the established scholarship on political participation does not offer a direct relation between information and participation. There is clearly a need for more comprehensive theoretical and empirical research aimed at understanding the relation between information and political participation.
• Internet as a communication medium
The Internet offers convenient, cheap and innovative methods of communication. Using the Internet, people may communicate with others irrespective of proximity, either spatial or temporal. However, in order to understand the potential of the Internet for increasing the communication capacity, it is vital to investigate different varieties of communication. Political scientists usually ignore the multi-faceted nature of communication. This is a fundamental problem since the use of the Internet does not support all communication types equally. Understanding the kinds of communication supported by the Internet will provide insights concerning the modes of political participation, which can potentially be enhanced. The Internet increases the communication capacity in an unequal way by supporting some forms of communication more than others. Hence, different modes of political participation (individual/collective, consumerist, deliberative, etc.) are affected asymmetrically by the use of the Internet. This points at a need for a more sophisticated approach to investigating the relationship between the communication capacity of the Internet and political participation. Instead of attempting to measure whether or not the Internet increases communication capacity, (level of participation), research should investigate what modes of political participation are affected in what ways (style of participation).
• Internet as a virtual public sphere
Political participation does not take place in a vacuum; it takes place within a public realm. Moreover, participation is not only about accessing a higher volume of information or expressing individual views; there must also be the opportunity for political deliberation. The emergence of the Internet introduced a plethora of online issue-based groups, most of which are not geographically bound. While it is possible to suggest that these groups operate within a virtual public sphere as online communities, many scholars claim that the potential of the Internet to operate as a virtual public sphere is limited (Papacharissi, 2002; Wilhelm, 2000). So, two causal links have to be explored: first, does the Internet extend the public sphere or provide a virtual public sphere? Second, how does extended public sphere affect levels and styles of political participation? Many studies conclude that the potential of the Internet to extend the public sphere is limited because of its unequal distribution, highly fragmented structure and increasing commercialization. However, there are many online communities whose members take part in online political debates. Although they may not form a public sphere, these online communities still operate as platforms on which participants conduct their rights as citizens and participate in online political deliberation. Although the potential of the Internet to extend “the” public sphere is limited, there is still potential for enhancing political participation around online issue groups.
Benefiting from theories of political participation:
Recent debates on the role of the Internet for enhancing participation ought to be linked to established knowledge on political participation. This will be beneficial in two respects. First, such knowledge points to the importance of top-down mobilization for facilitating political participation. The degree to which the Internet can enhance political participation depends on the availability of a political structure that is amenable to the use of the Internet for this purpose. Second, established knowledge on political participation suggests that certain practical and normative considerations arise with every form of political participation. Some of these considerations, particularly the practical ones such as the problem of size (that we live in large societies which make gathering difficult) and time (that nobody has time to invest in participating), can be ameliorated with the use of the Internet. However, the normative considerations concerning participation, such as the autonomy of elected representatives, are likely to remain. Such arguments can be potential barriers to the use of the Internet for enhancing political participation. In other words, if limited political participation is advocated on normative grounds, then the policy actors would be unwilling to use the Internet for enhancing political participation anyway. In fact, during my Phd research on English local government, I found out that this was a serious obstacle to launching e-participation initiatives. There were elected and appointed officials who were simply against increased participation in principle.
Bear in mind the digital divide:
There is a growing debate on the “digital divide” issue (Bonfadelli, 2002; Dijk, 2000), which refers to inequalities of access to the Internet, and the social and political implications of this divide. The Internet is not only a medium; it is also a resource. However, it is a resource only for those who are able to exploit it. The Internet is more likely to advantage those who are already advantaged in terms of income, skills and access to political links, all of which are important predictors of participation. Political actors may be reluctant to use the Internet for political participation purposes, especially in places where issues of access are acute. They may think that certain segments of the society will be systematically excluded by more extensive use of the new medium. Or, political actors may simply ignore the implications of the digital divide, which in turn will lead to further inequalities. In short, the use of the Internet introduces opportunities for enhancing participation and a potential for the exclusion of certain groups. Its significance stems from the implications of its use not only for participation and democracy, but also for changing power relations in the polity, especially through its unequal distribution.
Rabia Karakaya Polat is assistant professor at Department of International Relations at Isik University in Istanbul.
REFERENCES
Bonfadelli, H. (2002) “The Internet and Knowledge Gaps: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation.” European Journal of Communication, 17: 65-84.
Dijk, J. (2000b). “The Widening Information Gap and Policies of Prevention.” In Hacker K. L. and Dijk, J. (Eds.) Digital Democracy: Issues of Theory and Practice (pp. 166-190). London: Sage.
Polat, K. R. (2005). “The Internet and Political Participation: Exploring the Explanatory Links.” European Journal of Communication, 20 (4): 435-459.
Papacharissi, Z. (2002). “The Virtual Sphere: The Internet as a Public Sphere.” New Media and Society 4: 9-27.
Wilhelm, A. G. (2000). Democracy in the Digital Age: Challenges to Political Life in Cyberspace. New York: Routledge.
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