Communication and Community

This book is broadly concerned with the issue of electronic democracy (e-democracy): It asks whether the Internet strengthens democracy in advanced industrial polities, and if so how and under what conditions. It seeks to understand (a) whether and how the Internet modifies the existing structure of political inequality; (b) whether and how the Internet alters the context of traditional political action; and (c) whether the Internet holds a democratising potential and what is its nature. More generally, the book contributes toward the clarification of the ongoing debate on e-democracy, by examining the discourse surrounding the evolution of the issue. It reviews a large portion of the literature on online political engagement, organised in three main approaches. It presents and analyses original data on online political engagement to test the state of e-democracy in Britain. Finally, it advances a theoretical framework for the understanding of the "real" digital divide, drawing on the theory of political participation.