Funferal

Ben Scott on Direct Democracy

Ben Scott, ICR student and Congressional staffer, spoke at the University YMCA on Friday, on the topic of Direct Democracy on the Internet. Using the campaign against the FCC’s rule changes on media ownership as an example, he examined the impact of internet on citizen involvement in politics.
[The Daily Illini has published an article on the talk.]

Scott began by outlining how the structure of congressional decision-making serves to insulate outcomes from public opinion. In particular, he noted the influence of professional lobbyists and the power of the ‘cardinals’ in Congress. The latter are those people in positions of power – such as the speaker of the house and the chairpersons of committee – who can often effectively veto legislative proposals by refusing to allow time for debate.
The internet has facilitated, in Scott’s view, attempts to challenge these barriers. Drawing attention to the coalition of established public interest groups (e.g. Media Access Project), grassroots organisations (MoveOn, Common Cause) and specialist groups (Free Press) that challenged the media regulation changes, Scott highlighted the significance of providing timely and trusted information to citizens.
However, while the internet can aid the education, engagement, and activation of the public, Scott also looked at which actions by citizens will have an impact on Congress. He noted that – due to the anthrax-scare – letters now take up to a month to get to Congress, and that mass emails are rarely read – with perhaps one representative mail, and a mention on the number of mails received, being provided to staff by system administrators. This leaves phone calls. Targetted campaigns that result in all lines to an office being ‘lit up’ continually for an afternoon were very effective, he reported, as it becomes obvious to senior staff.
In questions after the main talk he also looked at questions of accessibility, saying that the ‘timely’ campaigns he saw as most successful relied mainly on those with broadband access who reacted quickly. This had obvious consequences for inclusivity in such campaigns. In addition, these campaigns largely target and rely on those who have prior political awareness, meaning that more apathetic social groups can easily be left to one side.