Internet & Democracy in Budapest: Building the Framework
Via the Internet & Democracy blog, Patrick Philippe Meier- I&D conference participant and panel moderator - liveblogged his way through the conference over the past two days at iRevolution. Patrick took notes on the following panels:
- Networked Public Sphere and Media. This panel will ask whether networked communication will lead to more democratic, deliberative and inclusive public spheres. The panel will include presentations by Lance Bennett, Bruce Etling and Michael Xenos.
- Methodology. As the title suggests, this panel will address challenges in methodology and research design vis-a-vis the study of the Internet’s impact on democracy. Michael Best, Corinna di Gennaro and Victoria Stodden will figure as panelists.
- Political Parties and Elections. Does the Internet make a difference to election campaigning by increasing citizen participation and turnout? The panelists for this discussion will be Urs Gasser, Rachel Gibson and Stephen Ward.
- E-Mobilization and Participation. This panel addresses the topic of digital activism. Networked technologies are said to unite, motivate and enable citizens to take their political future into their own hands. What empirical evidence exists? The discussion will include presentations by Marshall Ganz, Helen Margetts and Beth Kolko.
- Democratization and Authoritarian Regimes. Is the information revolution empowering repressive regimes at the expense of social movements? The panel will weigh the arguments presented by cyber-optimists and skeptics. Joshua Kauffman, Gwendolyn Floyd and John Kelly will figure as panelists.
Click on titles of the panels for Patrick's blog posts, and look for more on the conference in the upcoming weeks at Internet & Democracy.