The+Democratic+Divide

toc =Overview=

The democratic divide is one of the three aspects, which pertain to the term the **digital divide**. The democratic divide exists in our world today between those //who do// and //who do not// use the Internet as a political resource where the participation of civic engagement can occur (Castells, 279). The other two aspects involved in the digital divide are, the global divide, the divergence of Internet and technological access between industrailized and developing countries and, the **social divide**, the divide of internet use within societies.

=Aspects of the Democratic Divide=

The creations of the Internet and the World Wide Web have drastically changed society and media oriented communication. Communication is no longer restricted to certain regions, cultures, ethnicities, or national boundaries. The Internet provides channels for various topics, including politics. Canada, the United States and Western Europe provide examples of regions in the world that use the Internet for political purposes (Castells, 280).

Digital technologies, such as the Internet, act as a communication aid for political government institutions or any alternative organization in society. The Internet helps to strengthen and organize these institutions, as well as presenting their causes to a wide audience. These institutions can use the Internet as a mediator between the state and citizens, and allow for citizen feedback (Castells, 280). The Internet is a favoured form of communication since it is cheap, fast, and provides global access (Castells, 281).

Political government institutions use the Internet in order to visually communicate themselves, as well as to offer their services globallly to society. However, the government does not try to reinvent themselves through digital form, and instead offers their pre-existing systems over the Internet. The government's fixed system will not change unless it is challenged by an alternative organization (Castells, 281).

Alternative groups have the ability to challenge dominant political groups over the Internet. Competition can exist between parties through visually supporting websites (Castells, 281). This allows for greater variety, and in turn, a far larger choice as well as awareness for citizens when it comes to choosing who will represent them in democratic nations. Additionally, the web allows different parties that normally would be seperated geographically that share similar ideologies to consolidate through the Internet to form a larger and more powerful party that can span an entire nation, so via Internet politics it is possible for independant canditates and little know parties to gain access to the political system of their respective nations. However, government supported websites may hold an attractive professional appeal over competitors' websites since money plays an important role when creating an expensive multi media website (Castells, 283).

=The Political use of the Internet by Governments=

Governments are increasingly using the Internet. The Internet provides a new alternative and interactive way for citizens to view the governments' system, including documents, debates, and virtual tours. Citizens also have the ability to respond online with their own feedback and opinions (Pippa, 11).

However, there are some improvements that the government should implement in their political websites:
 * Transparent and open websites
 * Increased use of user-friendly standard features
 * Feedback page (many government websites do not include this feature)
 * E-mail contact addresses (many government websites do not include this feature)
 * Imaginative graphics

=The Political use of the Internet by Alternative Institutions=

Flash Coalitions
Flash Coalitions occur when alternative institutions in society are quickly established and demobilized for a cause. These temporary occurrences allow individuals in a society to bond and form a resistance against an established authority. Flash Coalitions use digital politics to produce a strong and sudden impact over the preexisting established political systems (Castells, 282).

An example of a flash coalition is the, "Poujadist fuel price revolt by farmers and truckers that swept the European continent in October 2000" (Castells, 282).

Long- term Electronic Coalitions
Long- term Electronic Coalitions involve global protest movements and actions that extend past national borders.

An example of a long- term coalition movement is the, "International Campaign to Ban Landmines that resulted in a treaty signed by 122 nations in 1997" (Castells, 282). NGO (Non- Governmental Organizations) united under ICBL (International Campaign to Ban Landmines) to propose the banning of AP mines (Maxwell, 1). AP mines are cheap and destructive weapons that lead to appalling and excessive suffering. The NGOs used the Internet and other media alternatives in order to spread their concern and fuel public awareness. The NGOs arranged a conference in Ottawa, Canada in 1997, to discuss the issue of abolishing the production, selling, and usage of AP mines (Maxwell, 4). A treaty was created in Ottawa and signed by most of the mine- afflicted nations in the world. This accomplishment gives hope to the idea that a global civil and democratic society might actually exist in the global system of today.

=General Responses to the Democratic Divide=

//Cyber optimists//: Believe that the Internet will help encourage everyday individulas in society to participate in civic engagement through diffrent media channels. These channels will allow individuals to become involved in direct democracy (Castells, 279). Cyber optimists believe that the Internet will allow unknown individuals and groups, to reach out to individuals in order to be heard within the public sphere. People can connect from different backgrounds and situations, thus further aiding in closing social divides within nations. The Internet can also be seen as a way to enable instant polling and voting from home. Finally cyber optimists believe that political communication online is fast, easy and cheap (Castells, 283).

Examples of democratic participatory electronic media channels: -Poltical chat rooms -Electronic voting // Cyber pessimists//: Believe that the Internet will produce a negative effect in society, one that will only benefit the elite. Authorities, who hold political power in the world, will also control the virtual political sphere. The Internet will widen the gap between the rich and poor, and contribute to the unequal balance of power and wealth within the world (Castells, 279).

//Cyber Skeptics:// Believe that cyber optimists' and pessimists' views and opinions concerning the Internet are too extreme and exaggerated. The Internet does not and will not hold a strong influence over politics. Skeptics propose the idea that technology is never fixed, but instead fluid, and will therefore change and adapt in order to compensate for existing models and systems (Castells, 280). Skeptics claim that established political institutions prefer their preexisting systems, and will therefore resist the attempt to reinvent them selves digitally on the Internet (Castells, 283).

=Works Cited=

Manuel, Castells. "An Introduction to the Information Age." The Information Society Reader. Ed. Frank Webster, Raimo Blom, Erkki Karvonen, Harri Melin, Kaarle Nordenstreng, and Ensio Puoskari. London and New York: Routledge, 2004. 273- 283.

Cameron, Maxwell. "Lessons from the Movement to Ban Anti- Personnel Mines." Global Civil Society and the Ottawa Process. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Norris, Pippa. "Democratic Divide?: The Impact of the Internet on Parliaments Worldwide." Digital Divide? Civic Engagement, Information Poverty and the Internet Worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.