A01=Catie Snow Bailard
Author_Catie Snow Bailard
Category=JPB
Category=JPHV
cyber activism
democratization
digital democracy
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Information and Communication Technology
Product details
- ISBN 9781421415253
- Weight: 272g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 17 Nov 2014
- Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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The beauty of democracy is not only that citizens can vote a candidate into office but that they can also vote one out. As digital media grows omnipresent, it becomes more important for political scientists and communication scholars to understand its influence on all aspects of the political process, from campaigning to governance. Catie Snow Bailard argues that the Internet - by altering the quantity and range of information available to citizens - directly influences the ability of individuals to evaluate government performance. It also affects public satisfaction with the quality of available democratic practices and helps motivate political activity and organization. Bailard originates two theories for democratization specialists to consider-mirror-holding and window-opening - which she tests using data collected from dozens of countries and two randomized field experiments. Mirror-holding explores how accessing the Internet allows citizens to see a more detailed and nuanced view of their own government's performance. Window-opening, however, enables those same citizens to glimpse how other governments perform, particularly in comparison to their own.
Although the book offers a robust empirical foundation for testing the Internet's effects on democratic attitudes, Bailard ultimately concludes that access to information does not necessarily ensure that democracy will automatically flourish.
Catie Snow Bailard is an assistant professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University.
