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Community Networks and Public Participation: A Forum for Civic Engagement or a Platform for Ranting Irate Malcontents?

Franz Foltz

Rudy Pugliese

Rochester Institute of Technology

Forums of public discussion on Internet Web sites have been promoted by some as having the potential to improve democracy through large increases in civic engagement. Such claims are scoffed at by others. To date, such forums tend to be found more on community networks and commercial Web sites than on sites owned by governments. We thus turn to an examination of forums hosted by a private New Jersey organization, to seek to understand the types and character of discussion taking place. Discussion of politics and government, especially at the local level, represented slightly more than one half of the postings. Participation in the forums, however, appeared limited to a small number of people.

Key Words: Forum • public • participation • cyberdemocracy • networks

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				P. Ferber, F. Foltz, and R. Pugliese Cyberdemocracy and Online Politics: A New Model of Interactivity Bulletin of Science Technology Society, October 1, 2007; 27(5): 391 - 400. [Abstract] [PDF]