Discover

Emerging Technology
Internet-Era Democracy

Can the World Wide Web give ordinary people a shot at true populism?

By Steven Johnson

DISCOVER Vol. 25 No. 01 | January 2004 | Technology

Presidential campaigning is being swept into a new era by the Internet, which is emerging as a political power tool. Howard Dean, for example, has risen from obscurity to national recognition on the back of his Web-based grassroots fund-raising approach, and campaign supporters of all types have learned to use a social-networking site, Meetup.com, to arrange political gatherings. Meanwhile, candidates posting messages on campaign Web sites seems to have replaced kissing babies as a ritual.

More: http://www.discover.com/issues/jan-04/departments/emerging-technology/