Introduction: The Potential of the Internet Revisited

Abstract

The net is the world’s only functioning political anarchy but it could soon become a major tool for democracy by allowing anyone anywhere access to information and opinions of anyone else, anywhere else. A morsel is being given to mankind with one instruction: ‘Eat Me’, so that we may grow. (Rael A. Fenchurch, Demos Quarterly, 4, 1994, p. 36) IN the space of little more than a decade the Internet has moved from the preserve of computer geeks and academics to becoming a global media of central concern for political actors and government policy makers and the public. Barely a day goes by without the Internet being declared as a panacea to a host of social and political problems or, alternatively, being held responsible for the promotion of pornography, racism and terrorism. As with other technological advances in the twentieth century, the arrival of the Internet heralded an initial burst of techno-enthusiasm, with claims that the Internet would revolutionise political systems.1 Part of this idea was built on a deterministic belief that the Internet is somehow different from other media and communication tools. Its supposedly unique inherent characteristics including: the lack of editorial control; its decentralised nature; the speed and volume of information that could be transferred worldwide; and centrally, the interactive and networking capacity of technologies would provide solutions to our rather tired system of representative democracy.

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