The hype promised a radical renewal of American democracy. The Internet would remake our social and political world. Interaction among citizens in cyberspace would enrich public opinion and increase participation in democratic politics. In contrast to the established mass media, computer-mediated communication would afford ordinary citizens opportunities to become their own publishers. Political activists – “netizens” if you will – would employ email, newsgroups, and websites to reduce the costs of forming new political groups and building new coalitions. Indeed, cyber-democrats such as Howard Rheingold, Rhonda and Michael Hauben, and Andrew Shapiro heralded the Internet’s promise for realizing heretofore-utopian dreams of informed engagement in political and civic affairs. At the very least, the reduced costs of organizing would foster viable new parties and interests to challenge the dominance of the Democrats, Republicans, and established political-interest groups (Hauben and Hauben, 1998; Rheingold, 1995; Shapiro, 1999).
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