Page 257 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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Political Communication and Electronic Democracy

three major sources in social science literature, which we will not be able
to discuss in great length in the context of this paper. The first source
derives from a strand in media studies, which emphasizes the political
significance of the media from a historical perspective. According to
this point of view, there has been a close relationship between waves of
democratization and crucial breakthroughs in media technology such
as the invention of the printing press or the introduction of television.
This relationship is being perceived as an indicator for the existence
of a causal impact of the media on politics (Startt and Sloan 1994).
Cyber-optimistsstressthescopeoftechnologicalchangealongwiththese
historical precedents when they argue that the Internet will be related to
anew wave of democratization.
Cyber-optimismsecondlytouchesupontheoriesoftechnology,which
stressthesocialsignificanceoftechnology.Proponentsofso-calledstrong
technological determinism argue that social institutions are determined
by technological capacities at a given point in time (Street 1992; Sclove
1995). From this perspective, social change can be extrapolated from the
emergence of technological innovations (Toffler 1980).
Thirdly, cyber-optimism refers to what can be called the “perfection-
ist theory of democracy.” This theory emphasizes the ideal of popular
sovereignty as the core of democratic government. At the same time, it
stresses the fact that large-scale mass democracies raise many obstacles
to the implementation of this ideal (Dahl and Tufte 1973). Because of
this tension between idea and physical matter, the history of democracy
has been perceived as a constant struggle to overcome these obstacles,
and new digital media are seen as a structural change that removes ob-
stacles to participatory forms of democracy and that serves as a catalyst
of democratic reform.
AccordingtoHansKleinsteuberandMartinHagen,theseassumptions
are far too optimistic regarding the impact of technology in general and
of computer networks in particular. These authors argue that technolo-
gies as well as the ideals of democracy are cultural artifacts rather than
independent and universal forces. On the basis of this assumption they
perceive American democracy as the only cultural and institutional envi-
ronmentthatiscompatiblewithelectronicdemocracyandthatcultivates
innovative uses of computer networks (Kleinsteuber 1995; Hagen 1997;
Hagen2000).Thissecularimpactofnewdigitalmediaondemocracywill
thus preserve and further foster the distinct character of the American
model of democracy rather than trigger a universal transformation of
democracy.

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