The Electronic Republic?evidence on the Impact of the Internet on Citizenship and Civic Engagement in the U.s

In 1991, Lawrence Grossman wrote that "a new political system is taking shape in the United States. As we approach the twenty-first century, America is tUrning into an electronic republic, a democratic system that is vastly increasing the people's day-to-day influence on decisions of state."l Grossman's forecast implied a sea change in the way citizens would interact with, and participate in, their representative government; a revamping of the way Americans would 'do' citizenship. Thomas Johnson and Barbara Kaye echoing Grossman's forecast, reported that "Internet utopians, writing in advance of the 1996 presidential election, breathlessly predicted the 'Net would transform the democratic process by both increasing the public's access to government officials and their power over them." Have these forecasts come to be? Has the United States-fueled by citizens' increasing access to the Internet-become an 'electronic republic'? This article will explore the literatUre in several areas (e.g., political science, civic education, social studies education, instructional technology) in order to summarize relevant research on the nature and degree of the Internet's impact on civic engagement and citizenship participation in the United States. The article will conclude with a re-examination of Grossman's prediction.