User-Generated Democracy: An Emergent Potential in American Politics
Well — it’s official (in a not-very-official kind of way): I’ve finished my senior thesis, entitled, “User Generated Democracy: An Emergent Potential in American Politics” (hence, the title of this blog post).
Here’s the mini-preface:
“A not-so-subtle shift is occurring in the body politic: citizens have begun to use the participatory architecture of the Net to effect substantive change in American democracy. In their social roles, they are moving from consumers to producers, audiences to speakers. This shift makes the evolutionary potential of the American political system greater than at any other period in history.
“Yet a more democratic future is far from guaranteed. Technology provides the physical architecture only. The rest depends on the collaborative effort of Internet users and citizens of America–hence, user-generated democracy. As such, this website represents more of an inquiry than an answer; the solutions, I believe, will come through further deliberation and open discourse…”
You can read the paper, with links and video, here. Feedback welcome!
