Table Of ContentPOLITICS
AS
USUAL
Contemporary American Politics
Series Editors
Richard G. Niemi, University of Rochester
Barbara Sinclair, University of California, Los Angeles
Editorial Board
John Aldrich, Duke University
Gregory Caldeira, The Ohio State University
Stanley Feldman, SUNY Stony Brook
Katherine Täte, University of California, Irvine
Sue Thomas, Georgetown University
The Contemporary American Politics series is intended to assist students
and faculty in the field of American politics by bridging the gap between
advanced but oft-times impenetrable research on the one hand, and oversim-
plified presentations on the other. The volumes in this series represent the
most exciting work in political science—cutting-edge research that focuses
on major unresolved questions, contradicts conventional wisdom, or initiates
new areas of investigation. Ideal as supplemental texts for undergraduate
courses, these volumes will examine the institutions, processes, and policy
questions that make up the American political landscape.
Books in This Series
DO CAMPAIGNS MATTER?
Thomas M. Holbrook
GENDER DYNAMICS IN CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
Richard Logan Fox
THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: Racial Politics in the
REU.S. Congress
Robert Singh
POLITICAL TOLERANCE: Balancing Community and Diversity
Robert Weissberg
UP THE POLITICAL LADDER: Career Paths in U.S. Politics
Wayne L. Francis & Lawrence W. Kenny
POLITICS AS USUAL: The Cyberspace "Revolution"
Michael Margolis & David Resnick
POLITICS
AS
USUAL
The Cyberspace
"Revolution"
Michael Margolis
David Resnick
Sage Publications, Inc.
International Educational and Professional Publisher
Thousand Oaks ■ London ■ New Delhi
Copyright © 2000 by Sage Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information:
Sage Publications, Inc.
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E-mail: [email protected]
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Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Margolis, Michael.
Politics as usual: The cyberspace "revolution" / by Michael Margolis
and David Resnick.
p. cm.—(Contemporary American politics; v. 6)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7619-1330-0 (cloth: acid-free paper)
ISBN 0-7619-1331-9 (pbk.: acid-free paper)
1. Internet (Computer network)—Political aspects. 2. Internet
(Computer network)—Political aspects—United States. 3.
Cyberspace—Political aspects. 4. Cyberspace—Political aspects—
United States. I. Resnick, David. II. Title. III. Series.
HM851 .M37 2000
303.48'33-dc21 99-050650
00 01 02 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acquiring Editor: Peter Labella
Production Editor: Diana E. Axelsen
Editorial Assistant: Cindy Bear
Typesetter: Marion Warren
Cover Designer: Candice Harman
fr-'^ip"
A
§Êmm
Contents
Preface vii
1. The Normalization of Cyberspace 1
The Great Transformation and Beyond 3
Three Types of Internet Politics 8
Intra-Net Politics 8
Politics That Affects the Net 10
Political Uses of the Net 14
Looking Forward 21
2. Democracy in Cyberspace: A Brief History 25
The Rise of ARPANET 26
Expanding and Linking Computer Networks 31
From ARPANET to the Internet 37
The World Wide Web and the Popularization of Cyberspace 40
Political Consequences of Popularization 47
3. Parties and Interest Groups: Organizing, Lobbying,
and Electioneering in Cyberspace 53
Political Parties on the Internet 57
Candidates on the World Wide Web 66
Political Interest Groups on the Web 69
The Future of Political Web Sites 72
4. Elected Officials and Government Bureaucracy
in Cyberspace 77
Accessing Government Via the Internet 78
The Executive on the Net 79
Legislatures on the Net 93
Keeping Government on the Web in Perspective 96
5. The Internet, Mass Media, and Public Opinion 99
The Great Democratic Hope 100
Media and Democracy 104
News of Public Affairs on the Internet 109
6. Doing Business on the Web: New Rules and New Taxes? 117
Electronic Commerce 119
Establishing a Legal Framework for Electronic Commerce 121
Intellectual Property Protection 124
Protecting Privacy 127
Taxing the Internet 131
The Bit Tax 146
International Politics and Taxation 150
Conclusion 153
7. Gambling on the Internet: A Case Study in the
Politics of Regulation 157
History of Gambling Regulation 159
Enforcement in Cyberspace: Within the United States 161
Enforcement in Cyberspace: Offshore 164
Proposed Federal Legislation 168
8. Criminal Activity in Cyberspace and What to Do About It 181
Crime in Cyberspace 182
Network Crime 183
Computer Crime 193
Conclusion 201
9. Democracy and Cyberspace: A Peek Into the Future 205
How the Net Will Not Contribute to Democracy 207
How the Net Will Contribute to Democracy 210
Inequalities in Cyberspace 212
The Internet and Hopes for World Peace 216
Setting Internet Policy in the Years Ahead 217
References 225
Index 241
About the Authors 246
à
Preface
W
hen we began our study of cyberspace in the early 1990s, we hoped
that the Internet's communication capabilities, its information
sources, virtual communities, newsgroups, and mailing lists would inspire
unprecedented levels of active intelligent participation by citizens in politics.
We took seriously the claim that cyberspace would initiate a revolutionary
change in the way we conduct our democratic politics. Alas, these expecta-
tions proved far too optimistic. Over the course of a few short years, the
Internet became a mass medium dominated by the World Wide Web, and the
Web itself rapidly evolved from a medium for research and information ex-
change into one dominated by commercial interests.
Far from revolutionizing the conduct of politics and civic affairs in the real
world, we found that the Internet tends to reflect and reinforce the patterns of
behavior ofthat world. Politics on the Internet is politics as usual conducted
mostly by familiar parties, candidates, interest groups, and news media. Gov-
ernment itself is no longer simply a silent partner, but is coming to play an in-
creasingly important role in shaping the new medium. Moreover, as in the
real world, most people who use the Internet have less interest in participat-
ing in political and civic affairs online than they have in following sports,
vu
viii POLITICS AS USUAL
seeking entertainment, pursuing hobbies, shopping, or gathering informa-
tion about a variety of other subjects. While the Internet may still have the po-
tential to greatly enrich our public life, thus far that potential has not been
realized.
Acknowledgments
We want to thank the Sage Series editor, Dick Niemi, who shepherded this
project from inception to completion. His critical comments and suggestions
helped us to develop the original proposal, improve the book's organization,
discover new material, and clarify our prose. He also provided comments
from an anonymous reader on the first complete draft of manuscript, and he
coordinated our efforts with those of the editors at Sage.
Peter Labella came up with the title that encapsulated our thesis, and
Diana Axelsen handled the final stages of preparation for publication with
aplomb.
In winter quarter of 1999, students in the University of Cincinnati's Un-
dergraduate Honors Program who were enrolled in Margolis's seminar on
Politics and the Internet provided additional feedback on the first complete
draft. We also received research assistance from Larry Gache, Melicent
Homan, Chin Chang Tu, Lillian Vasi, Robert Wheeler, and other graduate
students in the Department of Political Science.
Our colleagues at the Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship,
George Bishop, Bonnie Fisher and Joel Wolfe, provided helpful suggestions
and resources. Our wives, Elaine Camerota and Kathy Resnick, read our
drafts with the critical eyes of English teachers and editors. Our special
thanks go to Kathy for editing the final draft and preparing the index.
Despite all the contributions of our colleagues, students, relatives and
friends, we alone must bear the blame for any mistakes that readers may dis-
cover. Then again we happily claim the credit for all the comments and sug-
gestions that we have incorporated into our work. That, dear readers, is also
politics as usual.
For Elaine and Kathy
