Direct Democracy and the Internet
Direct Democracy and the Internet
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直接民主和互联网
DOI：
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发表时间：
2001
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
D. Morris
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Morris
I.互联网为直接民主提供了一种潜力，这种潜力是如此之大，以至于它不仅可能改变我们的政治制度，而且可能改变我们的政府形式。自20世纪60年代以来，美国的选举政治一直由电视广告主导。1996年，所有州和联邦候选人总共花了2.6亿美元在电视广告上。但随着互联网的发展，电视观众正在萎缩。从1978年到1998年，收看黄金时段电视节目的美国家庭比例从90%下降到45%。在1995年至1999年的四年期间，顶级电视网络新闻节目的收视率从1995年的9分下降到1999年的6.5分，下降了近三分之一。最近，33%的美国人报告说，互联网是他们获取新闻的主要来源，只有26%的人使用互联网获取新闻也看电视来了解最新情况。随着电视观众的减少和互联网用户的扩大，政治家们将跟随他们的选民将他们的注意力从广播转移到网上。就像狩猎的狮子必须跟随他们赖以为生的羚羊的迁徙一样，政治运动将别无选择，只能将大部分注意力转移到互联网上。这一趋势将减少对大的财政捐助者的依赖，并将扭转越来越昂贵的长期趋势。
I. SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT The Internet offers a potential for direct democracy so profound that it may well transform not only our system of politics but also our very form of government. Since the 1960s, electoral politics in the United States has been dominated by television advertising. In 1996, $260 million was spent on TV ads by all state and federal candidates combined. But as the Internet is growing, the television audience is shrinking. Between 1978 and 1998, the percentage of American households who watch prime time television has shrunk from 90% to 45%. In the four-year period from 1995 to 1999, the ratings of top television network news shows have dropped almost one-third from a 9 rating in 1995 to a 6.5 rating in 1999. Recently, 33% of Americans reported that the Internet was their major source for news and only 26% of those who use the Internet for news also watch television to keep up to date. As the television audience shrinks and the Internet usership expands, politicians will follow their voters in shifting their focus from on-air to online. Like hunting lions who must follow the migration of the antelopes on whom they feed, political campaigns will have no choice but to transfer the bulk of their attention to the Internet. This trend will decrease the reliance on large financial contributors and will reverse the long-term trend toward more and more expensive