Review Article: Politics, Citizens and Cyberspace

摘要

With the creation of the World Wide Web in 1993, research into the relevance, role and impact of the Internet has had a brief history so far. Political campaigners around the world are still getting to grips with whether they consider the Internet to be an effective political communication tool, and if so, how best to use it. Academic commentators are only slowly building theories to help explain what influence the Internet has, or might have, on political systems and society. So far the bulk of existing research has either focused on the use of the Internet in developed democratic states (Bimber, 1998; Davis, 1999) and/or the uses of e-campaigning (D'Alessio, 1997; Foot and Schneider, 2002; Sommer, 2003). Gibson et al. attempt a more inclusive analysis and consider a wider range of countries. They do not focus just on the electoral aspects of this new technology. In contrast, Rodgers argues that the Internet could break down state boundaries and unify the people of the world within a new anti-state terrain. Both books ask the reader to consider the practical and theoretical implications of electronic communications for the future of politics.