THE MOVEON EFFECT: THE UNEXPECTED TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN POLITICAL ADVOCACY

摘要

David Karpf brings a unique and timely perspective to the field of online politics research because of his dual practitioner and academic roles. The preface to the book tells us that Karpf has been closely involved in the management of the Sierra Club (America's oldest and largest environmental organization) since high school, holding positions such as national vice president for training and eventually securing a position on the board of directors. He maintained this active involvement throughout his doctoral research period and admits that juggling these roles was a challenge. But Karpf, much like his readers, will be pleased that he persevered; viewing the situation from both sides of the fence has clearly benefited his thinking on the subject. The differences in the mobilizing strategies of MoveOn when compared to the much older Sierra Club provide telling examples of the wide gulf between older "legacy" organizations and a more recent new breed of online Internet-mediated organizations such as MoveOn, a core theme of this book.