25 Years of Internet and Democracy : A Longitudinal and Cross-Continental Perspective

The Internet was in its early beginnings by many seen as a new information highway giving citizens access to an unprecedented amount of information and as a new agora for democratic debate, a weathercock for public opinion.

This edited collection focuses on the first 25 years of experience with Internet and democracy. Involving scholars and perspectives from more than 20 countries across six continents, it offers a comprehensive longitudinal and cross-national study on the impact of the Internet on democracy. The book starts with an overview of initial theoretical expectations about Internet and democracy, focusing on digital opportunities. The Internet was in its early beginnings by many seen as a new information highway giving citizens access to an unprecedented amount of information and as a new agora for democratic debate, a weathercock for public opinion. 25 years later, we have seen that such expectations were exaggerated. The Internet has not become the Shangri-La of democracy, enlightenment, and education. However, it has developed in other ways not expected and not explained in the original theories, changing information hierarchies, political ontologies, and daily political habits of citizens in unforeseen ways.