com 125 a done by: maria paul goh li rong graceilla yvonne andries mariani

COM 125 ADone By:

Maria PaulGoh Li Rong

Graceilla Yvonne AndriesMariani

Politics Faces Sweeping Change via the Web

• Transformation of American politics by the Internet is accelerating with the approach of the 2006 Congressional and 2008 White House elections

-advertising

-fund-raising

-mobilizing supporters

-spreading of negative information

DEMOCRATS & REPUBLICANS

• their use of e-mail • interactive Web sites • candidate and party blogs • text-messaging • raise money• organize get-out-the-vote efforts• assemble crowds for rallies

WHAT WAS SAID???

• The Internet - appears to be far more efficient - less costly

VS

• Traditional tools of politics- door knocking - telephone calls

Interesting finding!

• Candidates are actually studying popular Internet Social Networks like

FriendsterFacebook

ways to reach groups of potential supporters with similar political views or cultural interests.

•President Bush's media consultant Mark McKinnon said,

“television advertising, while still critical to campaigns, had become markedly less influential in persuading voters”

"I feel like a woolly mammoth”

Similarities

• Music industry

• Newspaper

• Retailing

- These candidates and parties are trying to adjust and take advantage of the Internet, as its influences spreads across the society.

In other words….• To a considerable extent, they are

responding to, and playing catch up with, bloggers who have demonstrated the power of their forums to harness the energy on both sides of the ideological divide.

•the Internet was a significant factor in 2004 - the early success in fund-raising and organizing by Howard Dean

•parties recognition and reliance on the Internet has increased at a staggering rate over the past two years

Pew Research Center

• 13 percent in the 2002 election cycle • 29 percent in 2004 • Pew survey (earlier this month)= 50 million Americans go to the

Internet for news every day - 27 million people in March 2004

Internet being available for 70 million of people in America

RESTRUCTURING!!

• how to reach different segments of voters?

• how to get voters to the polls ?• *how to raise money ?• the best way to have a candidate

interact with the public ?-John Edwards = blog

• "The effect of the Internet on politics will be every bit as transformational as television was"

• "If you want to get your message out, the old way of paying someone to make a TV ad is insufficient: You need your message out through the Internet, through e-mail, through talk radio”

-Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Chairman

• "Politicians are having a hard time reconciling themselves to a medium where they can't control the message"

• "Politics is lagging, but politics is not going to be immune to the digital revolution."

-Michael Cornfield, a political science professor at George Washington University

Future Planning

•Mark Warner, began preparing for a potential 2008 presidential campaign by hiring a blogging pioneer

• Jerome Armstrong- a noteworthy addition to the usual first-wave of presidential campaign hiring of political consultants and fund-raisers.

• Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and Mr. Edwards

• are routinely posting what aides say are their own writings on campaign blogs or on public blogs like the Daily Kos (the nation's largest).

• In the 2004 campaign, 80 percent of people between the age of 18 and 34 who contributed to Mr. Kerry's campaign made their contribution online

Republicans VS Democrats

• Republicans spotlighted what they described as the lavish spending habits of Representative Harold E. Ford Jr. with a site called fancyford.com

• Republicans launched a new attack site, bobsbaggage.com - Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey and focused on ethics accusations against him.

• Democrats have set up decoy Web sites to post documents with damaging information about Republicans

• this means of distribution was described as far more efficient than the more traditional slip of a document to a newspaper reporter

• http://capitolbuzz.blogspot.com

• Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, parking in a spot reserved for the handicapped

• A Daily Kos blogger (Republican) wrote: "Not one dime, ladies and gentlemen, to anything connected with Steve Elmendorf. Anyone stupid enough to actually give a quote like that deserves to have every single one of his funding sources dry up.“

• "Since I got attacked on them, I read blogs a lot more and I find them very useful.

-Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic consultant

Challenges!

• Adjusting to the changes

• Anticipating the kind of technological changes that might be on hand by the next presidential campaign

• "All these consultants are still trying to make sense of what blogs are, and I think by 2008 they are going to have a pretty good idea: They are going to be like, 'We're hot and we're hip and we're bloggin',' " said Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the Daily Kos

• Democratic leaders arguing that the Internet is today for Democrats what talk radio was for Republicans 10 years ago

• -"This new media becomes much more important to us because conservatives have been more dominant in traditional media," said Simon Rosenberg, the president of the centrist New Democratic Network.

LIMITATIONS!!• Internet use declines markedly

among Americans over 65 -the nation's most reliable voters

• heavily used by middle- and upper-income people.

• has proved to be much less effective at swaying voters who are not interested in politics

• "The holy grail that everybody is looking for right now is how can you use the Internet for persuasion,” - Mr. Armstrong, the Warner campaign Internet adviser

• voters are not as captive to a Website

-to a 30-second television advertisement

-a campaign mailing

A critical lesson of the collapse of Mr.

Dean's presidential campaign, after he initially enjoyed great Internet success in raising money and drawing crowds

• Nagourney, A.(2006). Politics Faces Sweeping Change via the Web. The New York Times, retrieved on March 15 from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/washington/02campaign.html?ex=1301630400&en=d566826d88d5f5cf&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Can the Internet truly create

Democracy?

E-democracy• Cyberdemocracy / Digital Democracy• Use of electronic communications

technologies, like the Internet, in enhancing democratic processes within a democratic republic or representative democracy

• Political development still in its infancy• Subject of much debate• Includes electronic voting

E-democracy. (2007). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_democracy

Benefits of E-democracy

• Citizen participation in public policy decision-making more expansive & direct Enable broader influence in policy

outcomes, because more individuals involved

• Increasing transparency & accountability• Keeping government closer to the consent

of the governed Increase its political legitimacy

E-democracy. (2007). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_democracy

Public Sphere

• Precondition for a strong liberal democracy

• Debate centres on Philosopher Jürgen Habermas’ work,The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere

Participatory democracy. (2007). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_democracy

Alinta Thornton. (2002). Does Internet Create Democracy. http://www.zip.com.au/%7Eathornto/thesis_2002_alinta_thornton.doc

Public Sphere

• Part of social life where citizens can exchange views on matters of importance to the common good, so that public opinion can be formed

• When people gather to discuss issues of political concern


Public Sphere

• Process of discussion, (rational-critical debate)

• Avoid use of emotion or emotive language

• Focus on rationality of content

• Common interest in truth (participants speak as if they were equals)

• Criticism is vital


Public Sphere

• As compared to the Internet, traditional media has:Vast resourcesEstablished audienceEstablished methods of distribution

• Internet not endowed with such resources


Public Sphere• Traditional media criticized as being active

through their roles in publicity, instead of reporting on politics

• Events manipulated, debates structured, such that maximum televisual impact is created

• Doing little to contribute to the formation of discursive public will or opinion


Surveillance & Control

• Most things on the Internet based on trust

• Fear that government controls will diminish Internet ability to support democracy


http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/Search/40','40','1','

• After September 11• Australian House of Representative• Telecommunications Interception Legislation

Amendment Bill 2002:

“The Bill would change the long-established balance between individuals’ right to privacy and legitimate law enforcement needs. It would allow government agencies to intercept and read the contents of communications passing over telecommunications system, that are delayed and stored in transit, without a warrant of any type (e.g. email, voice mail and SMS messages that are stored on a service provider’s equipment pending delivery to the intended recipient).”


Access & Participation• Central problem: Full Participation

• All parties that might be affected must be included

• Can interact in a free, equal and easy manner

• No restrictions on topics

• Outcomes can be revisedAlinta Thornton. (2002). Does Internet Create Democracy.

http://www.zip.com.au/%7Eathornto/thesis_2002_alinta_thornton.doc

Access & Participation

• Require access to a computer

• Cost of connection fees

• Household access important, because people are more likely to engage in political debate from home rather than in the workplace

• Answer to equity of access: sell one’s privacy


Access & Participation• Gender & Rationality

Previous male dominance of Internet reducing

Rational, objective “manly” styles of speech were judged superior to emotive, personal “effeminate” styles (McLaughlin, 1993)

Women are gradually acknowledged to have rational capacity


Access & Participation• Gender & Equal Voices

How can there be equal participation in discussions, while gender inequalities exist?

Men have been a dominating presence on the Internet (Dale Spencer, 1995 – Nattering on the Net)

“ Make no mistake about it, the Internet is male territory. Considering its roots are sunk deep in academia and the military industrial complex, that’s hardly surprising.”



• First World BiasU.S. dominates the

InternetAgenda set by

American culture & concerns

• Status



• Literacy & Education Literacy rates & education vary widely across

the world, even minimal or non-existent in many places

Internet discussion presumes that participants have a certain basic knowledge of the world

Discussion on an equal basis?


Social Issues

• “Tragedy of the commons” A useful public area attracts more and more

participants, until the space is degraded and it fails to fulfill its original purpose

E.g. Usenet – many groups ended up with flame wars, trolling, spam, advertising, inanities, off-topic discussions

Elite groups rise


Social Issues

• Question whether the increased contribution that lower status individuals have is a good thing (Sproull & Kiesler)

• But, this assumption is rooted in centuries of similar attitudes against the concept of democracy


Social Issues• Myth & Symbolism

Questions the solely rationalist approach Unconscious drives, desires, fears & conflicts

underlie much public communication Emotive, mythic factors should not be

excluded from the public sphere Integrate all aspects of our essence as

human beings into our political debate


Conclusion

• Direct participatory democracy Rheingold hoped for is highly unlikely even with the Internet

• However, things changing around the world

• Many factors to be considered and changed


No Internet Voting!

• In 2004, neither the US presidential election nor the English local elections offered Internet voting options, despite the technology showing promise in earlier pilots

• US security study: Internet and personal computer technology are fundamentally unsuited to a secure e-voting system

• Vulnerable to cyber attackshttp://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1145669,00.html

Internet Voting, Shall We?

• In 2005, US government assigned Diebold Election Systems to create e-voting machine named AccuVote

• About US$ 3 billion for equipment purchases

Stross, R. (2006). The Big Gamble On Electronic Voting. The New York Times.http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/business/yourmoney/24digi.html?ei=5088&en=9bfe345825b02bea&ex=13167504&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The AccuVote Examination

• By Edward W. Felten, a professor of computer science at Princeton, and his students

• Weaknesses found:

• Standard key access to memory card slot

• Lock code was easily circumvented in LESS THAN 10 SECONDS


The Examination Continues...• It was Sept 13...• Princeton: “We have found weaknesses in the

AccuVote...”• Diebold: “They examined the two-older-

generations-machine! It was not even used anywhere in the country.”

• Princeton: “Can we borrow the newer version to be examined?

• Diebold: “Sorry, we are certified by state election officials that no academic researcher would be permitted to test the machine. It's like 'no access to the buttons to launch a nuclear missile'.”

Sounds Not Convincing?• Aviel D. Rubin, a computer science professor at

John Hopkins, and two junior associates• Finding: Standard protections to prevent

alteration of internal code were missing; far below even the most minimal security standards

• Finding was published in a nontechnical memoir, “Brave New Ballot: The Battle of Safeguard Democracy in the Age of Electronic Voting”


Diebold's Reaction

• Hired lawyers to send a threatening letter to the paper's authors

• “Make statement in front of the press, telling that the paper was designed to improperly impair and impede Diebold's existing and future business.”


Result

The states are having second thoughts about trusting AccuVote equipment.


Discussion

Internet Voting

VS.Large Value e-Commerce

Schneier, B. (2001). Cripto-Gram newsletter - Internet Voting vs. Large Value e-Commerce. Retrieved March 20,2007, from Cripto-Gram: February 15, 2001. Web site: http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0102.html#10

Schneier, B. (2001). Cripto-Gram Newsletter – Internet Voting vs. Large Value e-Commerce. http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0102.html#10

Discussion

“If we can protect multi-billion-dollar e-commerce transactions on the Internet, certainly we can protect

elections.”

Schneier, B. (2001). Cripto-Gram newsletter - Internet Voting vs. Large Value e-Commerce. Retrieved March 20,2007, from Cripto-Gram: February 15, 2001. Web site: http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0102.html#10


What Makes It Impossible?

Financial Transaction e-Voting

Use credit cards, PayPal, etc. which requires personalinformation.

Voting = anonymous >>Harder to protect the system from fraud>>Harder to detect fraud if it happens>>Harder to identify the perpetrator & arrest him.

You can unwind and redo transactions if anything fails. You can't redo elections if anything fails (for example:someone hack the system)


Best Way Out?• Combination of computer and paper.

• Voters use touch screens only for “ballot marking”

• Paper ballot will be printed after they made their choice >> voters can visually check

• Only chosen candidates will be printed

• Election officials can use the slip to tally votes with an optical scanner


Conclusion

“Let computers do what they do best, and let paper do what it does best.”


• The Internet in Singapore is almost devoid of political discussion

• Dissent only occurs on websites and discussion forums outside the country

• ISPs under control– Government pushed through two major

computer and internet law in 1998– Computer Misuse Act– Gave police wide powers to intercept online

messages– Authorities could decode encrypted messages

Singapore. (2004). Reporters Without Borders. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10771

• Other laws, on e-commerce– Allowed police to seize and search computers without

a warrant• Since late 1990s, the Internet has been under

control of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA)

• Requires ISPs to block any site containing material that undermines public security, national defense, racial, and religious harmony and public morality.

• Employers are legally allowed to monitor the email of their workers

• Political and religious websites must be registered with the Media Development Authority (MDA)


• Amendment to article 15 (a) of the Computer Misuse Act authorize complete surveillance of an Internet through real- time software.

• Cyber- criminal can be imprisoned for up to three years.

• Chee Soon Juan, secretary- general of the Singapore Democratic Party, said it was just an excuse for the government to control Internet acativity.


• Online forum Singapore Review, carries criticism of the government, calls itself “an alternative” to the country’s “propaganda media”.

• It carries articles from the world press and reports by international human right organizations.

• Its editor, Melanie Hewlitt (pseudonym), encourages participants to speak their mind- which country’s media incapable of doing so.


2006- Year of the new media and citizen journalism in Singapore

• Minister of Communication and Arts, Balaji Sadasivan of the People’s Action Party (PAP) announced a ban that blogs and podcasts would be shut down.

• In response to the Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) plans to reach out to the electorate using sound and video clips on its website.

• Reporters Without Borders said: “Once again the Singapore authorities are showing their determination to prevent the holding of a genuinely democratic debate on the Internet”

Glaser, M. (2006). Singapore Tries to Squelch Political Blogs, Podcasts. Mediashift. http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/digging_deepersingapore_tries_to_squelch_political_blogs_podcasts.html

• Outside election periods, bloggers and website managers have to register with the Media Development Authority (MDA)

• During elections, even registered users are prohibited from open political discussion.

• Does not stop Netizens from publishing videos of numerous election rallies on their blogs.

Glaser, M. (2006). Singapore Tries to Squelch Political Blogs, Podcasts. Mediashift. http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/digging_deepersingapore_tries_to_squelch_political_blogs_podcasts.html

The Rise of Mr. Brown

• Shot to fame during election with his notorious funny “Tur Kwa” podcast.

• Poked fun at PAP’s demonizing of Worker Party (WP) candidate, James Gomez, for his blunder of not submitting his election forms of properly.

Giam, G. (2006). Review – The Politics of Singapore’s New Media in 2006. The Online Citizen. http://theonlinecitizen.com/2006/12/31/review-the-politics-of-singapores-new-media-in-2006/

com 125 a done by: maria paul goh li rong graceilla yvonne andries mariani

Documents

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presidential campaign

democratic consultant

negative information

contribution online

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