Politics Online: Blogs, Chatrooms, and Discussion Groups in American Democracy

Online political discussion has been touted by some as a new tool for deliberative or even direct democracy. In Politics Online Richard Davis argues that, to the contrary, online forums in their current form lack the representative qualities essential to serve as gauges of public opinion. The author provides a thorough analysis detailing the political attitudes, behavior, and demographic nature of the electronic discussion community as it contrasts with the general public. Basing his findings on an original study including content analysis of discussion groups' messages and surveys of online discussion posters and subscribers, Davis demonstrates that the online discussion community does not mirror the general public it ostensibly represents, and the online environment for participation does not at present foster healthy public discourse. In short, Davis argues, the Internet is not the panacea it is envisioned to be for our democratic ills.

Richard Davis is Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University