Democracy Analysis: Opendebate.com

Paper Summary:

The paper seeks to examine the statement by Stephen Lax that the "Internet will enhance the democratic process" and for that purpose the paper looks at the Internet site "Opendebate.com", a site in which any user may post a multiple choice poll question in any of five categories: politics, society, health, science, and entertainment. Users can then respond to the polls by either voting (abstaining from voting is also a type of voting allowed) and/or posting a response to a poll question. The paper first sets the boundaries for the term "democracy" and then the criteria upon which to examine the site.

Outline:
Dissemination of Information
Safety of Public Voice
Free Speech Vs. Censorship
Flexibility
Equal Access
Promoting/Enabling Political Action

From the Paper:

"For the purpose of this essay, I would like to look at one site in particular; opendebate.com. Opendebate.com is a site in which any user may post a multiple choice poll question in any of five categories: politics, society, health, science, and entertainment. Users can then respond to the polls by either voting (abstaining from voting is also a type of voting allowed) and/or posting a response to a poll question. Users can then respond to these responses, propose new polls, and so on. The more popular a poll is the higher precedence it gets on the site listings. This, in turn, causes popular topics to overshadow less popular topics. One example is the eye-catching poll question "Does Bush beat his wife ?" which currently has the highest poll response rate, in lieu of perhaps more politically practical questions such as "If you were in charge of writing a whole new constitution for America what would it say ?" Posting on the site is extremely easy, although it does require a membership which is practical, considering that it helps prevent people from voting more than once on a poll. This site is popular enough that it's the first site to pop up in Google under "open debate." After an extensive search of sites, this is the one that looked the most promising for promoting democracy. I figure that if I can't prove that this site promotes democracy, then I can't prove that the Internet does either."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Gonick, Larry, Cartoon History of the world, p. 317-320
• www.opendebate.com/msg?topic=12&q=875
• www.opendebate.com/msg?topic=20&q=919
• www.opendebate.com/helpintro
• LeCourt, Donna. ENG 391A: Writing and Emerging Technologies. class discussion. Spring 2005. Umass, Amherst

More papers on Democracy Analysis: Opendebate.com:

• Analytical Essay # 131643 : "EasyCar.com - A Case Study"
• Analytical Essay # 120965 : "Amazon.com"
• Essay # 83638 : "Amazon.com"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: