Page 131 - Information and American Democracy Technology in the Evolution of Political Power

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Political Organizations
to Congress. The two Coloradans who started the effort report having
spent about $100, making Move On arguably the least expensive mass
8
petition effort in American history. While the cost of the underlying
technological infrastructure that made it possible was enormous, the
directly attributable marginal cost to the protest organizers was on the
order of one-fiftieth of a cent per person. It is unlikely that Move On ma-
terially affected the impeachment proceedings, given the overwhelming
media attention dedicated to them; however, here was another instance
of collective action in the absence of traditional organization.
Mainstream interest groups were also exploring new approaches to
collective action. In 1998 and 1999, the National Association of Man-
ufacturers (NAM) relied heavily on the Internet to obtain legislation it
sought from Congress. NAM is the largest and most powerful organi-
zation representing business interests, claiming to have 14,000 member
corporations along with 350 member associations. As a product of late
nineteenth-century industrialization, the association has its roots in the
second information revolution and a long history of forming coalitions
and cooperating with other groups outside its already formidable mem-
9
bershipbase. Inthelate1990s,theassociationanditsmemberbusinesses
were concerned with the possibility of widespread lawsuits against busi-
nesses whose computer systems might fail temporarily at the outset of
2001, due to ambiguity in the two-digit date records used by computers
and other electronic devices. In 1997 and 1998, as awareness spread of the
potential for computer failures at the beginning of the new millennium,
NAM created a coalition that was unusual for its size and speed.
The coalition included about 100 business groups, including orga-
nizations in the banking, insurance, retail, and finance sectors. NAM
officials claimed the coalition represented 80 percent of the American
economy; while that figure is more symbolic than literal, this was clearly
a business coalition of enormous proportions. It used electronic mail

8 Jeri Clausing, “Anti-Impeachment Web Site Tallies Millions in Pledges,” New York
Times, Jan. 8, 1999, http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/cyber/articles/
08move.html; Benny Evangelista, “A Way to Petition Congress on Clinton: Web
Site Lets You Tell Your Lawmaker to Censure, Move On,” San Francisco Chroni-
cle, Oct. 15, 1998, p. B3; Kevin Merida, “Moving Down Off the Fence; An Un-
decided Democrat Makes Up His Mind,” Washington Post, Oct. 9, 1998, p. D1;
Melissa Healy, “Grass-Roots Organizing Effort Gets a Big Boost From Internet,”
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 13, 1999, http://www.latimes.com/home/news/reports/scandal/
stories/lat public990113.htm; Chris Carr, “On-Line Call against Impeachment Is on
Fire,” Washington Post, Feb. 1, 1999, p. A10.
9
National Association of Manufacturers, March 2001, http://www.nam.org.
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