The ‘Net’ Effect in Politics

Abstract

New information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly the Internet, can facilitate the rapid exchange of information that is essential to coordinating political activity. This case study examines a cyber-advocacy campaign in which the Internet was employed effectively to impact public policy and regulatory change in US telecommunications. The Internet facilitated collective action not only by altering the costs of communication but also by reshaping access in ways that enabled the campaign to reconfigure the networks of communication among key political actors and an otherwise fragmented group of citizens. However, the dilution of these outcomes over time raises further questions about the longevity of such virtual cyber-advocacy networks.