If You Build a Political Web Site, Will They Come?

Synopsis: The core issue for this study concerns the social and political consequences of the rise of knowledge societies, in particular the capacity of the Internet for strengthening democratic participation, social capital, and civic engagement in Britain. To consider these issues, Part I summarizes debates about the impact of the Internet on the public sphere. The main influence of this development, it is theorized in a market model, will be determined by the ‘supply’ and ‘demand’ for electronic information and communications about government and politics. Demand, in turn, is assumed to be heavily dependent upon the social characteristics of Internet users and their prior habitual political orientations. Given this understanding, the study predicts that the primary impact of knowledge societies in democratic societies will be upon facilitating causeoriented and civic forms of political activism, thereby strengthening social movements, voluntary associations, and interest groups, more than upon conventional channels of political participation, exemplified by voting, parties, and election campaigns. Part II summarizes the sources of data and the key measures of political activism used in this study, drawing upon the British Social Attitudes Survey, 2003. Part III examines the evidence for the relationship between use of the Internet and indicators of civic engagement. The conclusion in Part IV summarizes the results and considers the broader implications for governance, society, and democracy.