Verena Blechinger-Talcott, assistant professor of government, presented a Brown Bag lunch discussion titled "'Can you hear me now?' Internet and Democracy in East Asia and Western Europe," on March 31. Examining broadly the effect that the Internet has had on politics and society globally, Blechinger-Talcott also addressed the Internet and its effects on East Asia's social, economic and political divisions.
According to Blechinger-Talcott, as the Internet spread throughout the 1990s, different political and social scientists had various expectations of the "digital revolution." Some believed that the Internet would have a comparable social effect that television had on society in the 1950s, believing that the revolution in communications would critically change politics and society. Similarly, people believed that the Internet would help increase communication between both politicians and constituents and community members with other community members, recreating, on a larger scale, the civic discussion present in town meetings in Athens, Greece. Optimists also believed that the Internet would specifically drive out dictatorships.
However, pessimists believed that the Internet would yield negative political implications, as the Internet would only "absorb and reproduce pre-existing biases." The Internet would mirror society, and therefore would include the negative qualities present in society. Pessimists predicted that large business conglomerates and powerful media group would structure information on the world and therefore control what information people receive via the Internet.
Blechinger-Talcott explained how she agreed with different elements of the two opposing camps; the Internet, despite what cyber-optimists projected, has not helped to eliminate dictators, she noted. Similarly, she explained, the Internet does not always increase democracy in a given society as the "pre-existing power struggles exists on line" as they do in the real world. Blechinger-Talcott explained, for example, that while examining political Web sites for some nations, she found that the ruling party had better Web sites then the opposition parties; the ruling party Web site loaded faster, used better technology, was easier to navigate, and provided more information than the opposition party Web site.
As an expert on politics in Japan, Blechinger-Talcott explained the effect the Internet has had on Japanese politics. She noted that the Japanese prime minister has a Web site which provides people with daily news, complete with an online newsletter. Although this Web site has been successful in Japan, Blechinger-Talcott explained that newsletter Web sites are very difficult to maintain as they cost a lot of money to produce and need constant editing. Therefore, it is usually the ruling parties who have the resources to maintain such Web sites.
Unlike the United States, Blechinger-Talcott said, Japan does not allow for Internet campaigning the last 12 days before elections. The Japanese continue to use traditional techniques to mobilize voters in the week and a half preceding an election. Therefore, as Internet sites have very limited influence on voters immediately before an election, the Internet is mainly used in Japan to strengthen political parties and gain support between elections,
Blechinger-Talcott then allowed for students, faculty and staff members to openly discuss and debate the effect the Internet has had on politics, society, globalization, and democracy.
--by Emily Lemanczyk '05
