Over past several years, the Internet has played an increasing role in the interaction between people and government, as well as candidates and the electorate. Specifically, the Internet is now used for:

• organizing and expressing opinions among the public and with elected officials;
• creating forums for accessing and sharing information to inform civic dialogue;
• providing up-to-date information to interested citizens to help them better engage on issues that both interest and affect them; and
• invigorating voter turnout and participation.

The Internet has become a medium that facilitates not only political discussion and acquisition of candidate information, but also a growing number of collaborative efforts — coming from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors — to educate and engage the public.

Voter Education: Who's Going Online, and Why?

In a 2005 report on "The Internet and Campaign 2004", the Pew Internet & American Life project found that 75 million Americans used the Internet during the 2004 election to get news, discuss candidates in email, and participate directly in the political process. This represents over one-third of the adult population and almost two-thirds of online Americans.

Over the past four presidential election cycles, the Internet has become the primary news source for a growing group of Americans, with 17 percent of registered voters citing it as their primary source of election news, compared with only 12 percent in 1992. For the 27 percent of the overall U.S. population with broadband Internet access at home, the Internet rivaled newspapers as the primary news source utilized. These "online political news consumers" found the Internet to be a source of information that helped them decide their vote, and nearly one-quarter said that their use of the Internet for political news and activities encouraged them to vote.

As Internet technology has been adopted by growing numbers of American adults, the demographic profile of users has greatly expanded. In 1996, regular Internet users represented only 23 percent of the U.S. population, and the online political news audience was disproportionately male, white, and relatively well-to-do. By 2004, the Internet population had expanded to 61 percent of adult Americans, and online political news consumers included higher proportions of women, older Americans, and rural residents.

Recent years have also seen a boom in the type of political activities people use the Internet for. According to the Pew report, between 2000 and 2004 there was significant growth in the number of people using the Internet to research candidates' issue positions and voting records, discuss politics in online forums, take online polls, and make campaign contributions online. A large and growing number of Americans — 14 million in 2004, compared with 6 million in 2002 — also used the Internet to get information about when or where to vote, an important trend reflected by the efforts of Secretaries of State and other election administrators to expand their online resources.

Online Political Resources

There is a vast diversity of sources for political information online. Many mainstream news organizations have websites, and the proliferation of weblogs (commonly known as blogs) has dramatically increased the number of smaller, independent perspectives available. Beyond news, Internet users can find a wide range of information on candidates, issues, and ways to engage in the political process. A sampling of the available resources follows:

• Project Vote Smart is an online library with information on over 10,000 candidates for public office, covering races from the presidential to state legislatures. Candidate profiles include information on background, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances, and performance evaluations (based on ratings from political interests groups across the spectrum). Specific voter registration for each state is available, as well as an online database of candidate public speeches, issue statements, and position papers, searchable by individual candidate or by issue. Users can also track the status of legislation in Congress, state-level political news, and ballot measures.
• SelectSmart.com is a variation on the traditional candidate scorecard that allows individuals to see how well candidates match up according to their personal views on key policy issues. By answering a list of questions about your political preferences, the site provides information on which candidate most closely reflects these positions in a given race. The site includes interactive quizzes on a range of topics, so only a limited number of political races are available for comparison.
• Speakout.com operates as a site to gather public opinions and let people voice their views on politicians and current issues. The site is designed to allow people to not only learn about issues but react to them, and the results of its online research are made available to interest campaigns and elected officials. Website visitors can also send messages directly to their elected representatives through links on the site.
• Vote.com is an online ballot box designed to give Internet users the chance to voice their opinions on current public policy issues. Vote results are sent to congressmen, senators, and the president to let them know how people feel on a given issue.
• At the state level, the California Voter Foundation has a range of tools to help voters become more informed. The site includes a comprehensive online voter guide, directory of ballot measures, and links to official campaign sites, interest groups, and basic government information.
• Minnesota E-Democracy has been in existence since 1994 as a nonpartisan, citizen-based, nonprofit project to improve participation in democracy and real world governance via elections and public discourse in Minnesota by using information networks and communication technologies. The project site contains e-mail discussion groups, interactive political forums connecting citizens with elected officials, and 24-hour real-time discussion space. Emphasis is placed on process as a key element in fostering political participation.

Why It Matters

Voter apathy and lack of information are major barriers to full participatory democracy in the United States. The resources above represent an opportunity to inform and engage the electorate through technology. Online political information brings several important benefits:

• More citizen engagement on issues of concern at the local, state, and national level;
• Increased access to more and better information on candidates, policy positions, and government decisions that affect all citizens; and
• Pressure on all entities — from news organizations to advocacy groups — that inform the public to provide the best quality information.

As access to the Internet continues to expand, potential voters will have available an enormous variety of resources to help them connect with the political process.