Prospect of Internet Democracy

Michael Margolis is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati, USA. Gerson Moreno-Riaño is Associate Professor of Goverment at the Regent University, USA.

• Contents: Introduction; The internet and the prospect of democracy; Impossible dreams: the radical roots of cyber-democracy; Tempering the dreams: revised theories of cyber-democracy; Democracy, tolerance and the internet; Mass media and internet democracy; The internet and democratic education; Parties, interest groups and the internet's impact on democratic participation; Internet democracy in the 21st century; Bibliography; Index.

Prize: Nominated for the ITP Section Award at APSA 2010 'This book offers an engaging account of the clash of ideals that now characterizes this subject area. It places current debates about information and communication technologies squarely within the context of empirical and normative theories of democracy. A welcome addition to the literature.' Andrew Chadwick, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK 'Providing a skeptical look at the transformative capacity of the internet to strengthen American democracy, Margolis and Moreno-Riaño inject an invaluable corrective to much of the hype surrounding this phenomenon. By deflating exaggerated claims, this book presents a more realistic and hard-nosed assessment of how the internet affects citizens' participation in the public sphere.' Pippa Norris, Harvard University, USA 'Margolis and Moreno-Riano have successfully managed to consolidate numerous ideas into one succinct evaluation of online practices and democratic theories. As such, this text provides a useful resource for anyone wishing to develop a broad understanding of the internet's impact on democracy.' Media International Australia