By silicon.com, 16 January 2004 17:20
NEWS 18.01.99: 1999 will be the year that the internet radically changes the face of politics, according to a report published this week by Irish internet consultancy Nua.
Researchers predict the political landscape of Europe and the US will be most heavily affected. A notable example of this from 1997 was the screening of Clinton's testimony over the internet, which reached millions of viewers within minutes and put extra pressure on the crisis.
Nua are warning politicians to brush up on their understanding of the net and change voting campaigns to fit in with the new medium.
16.01.04: Politics and the internet have become inextricably linked during the past five years.
The issues thrown up by the internet, such as spam, privacy and crimes such as fraud and 'grooming' have become political 'hot potatoes'. The internet has also become an effective campaigning tool, used by politicians and activists alike.
The next stage will be widespread deployment of online voting, which has already been trialled as a way to overcome apathy and low voter turn out.
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1. Dharmendra Misra
Politicians, please do not interfere in technology related matters. Internet is Internet till it is out of control and any interference. IEEE is IEEE till it is not biased as per geography.
2. Brian Catt
I suspect that politics is not that much changed, just the minority intelligentsia have new toys/media. The hard of thinking who are the mass vote every politician seeks to gain are swayed by good ole smoke 'n mirrors on the TV, they don't take the intellectual Newspapers either. Elections and political agendas are short term and appeal to self interest and simplified "with us or against us/putting more tax dollars back in Americans pockets`" emotional issues, and in particular the statement of certainties and icons (God, Country(us), etc) over exploring new ideas (uncertainties). A great point I just re read in Brownovski's Ascent of Man which has driven fundamentalism, dictatorships, etc. for ever, and still does. Such an approach has also been successfully exploited through largely unquestioned propaganda by at least the Bush and Blair Administrations in so called democracies. Mass politics is not an Internet thing. For the mass vote I don't believe the Internet is relevant. Mass voters don't dialogue on politics on the web. At least its democratic at heart - but can be hi-jacked as are our political systems which are failing through the inadequacies of the mass voter to think well or the media to challenge the agendas of major political parties, and follow the agendas they set. Or even the impossibility in old democracies to get new parties into power to address the issues of the people over the political, administrative and capitalist establishments as they bureaucratise and control countries to death. This is not in any way a communist viewpoint, just a populist one.