Page 87 - Information and American Democracy Technology in the Evolution of Political Power

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Information Revolutions
information regarding the actions of the new agencies, the movement
of bills in Congress, the positions and intentions of politicians, the inter-
ests of the new associations and groups, or the deals that would have to
be made for politics and policy to proceed. Complexity in government
far outstripped the capacity of newspapers to inform, especially where
the demands of political professionals and elites were concerned.
The parties confronted a parallel problem. Newly realigned as they
were, and destined for political stability (except for 1912) until the Great
Depression, they increasingly lost their centrality to the flow of policy in-
formation. As organizations adapted to brokering compromises among
blocs of citizens and to building large electoral coalitions, parties were
poorly suited to master or dominate the new information environment.
That environment called for specialization and expertise in policy infor-
mation, and they could not communicate in the right ways to remain
dominant over the information moving among business, government
officials, and constituent groups.
In the business arena, executives wanted rapid, detailed information
about government and policy making. Had parties been able to provide
it, they might have retained some of their nineteenth-century power.
Instead, businesses turned to new channels for information. As Wiebe
writes, “the corporate leader needed a continuous flow of political
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information, so he paid strategically placed men to supply it.” Indeed,
one of the major challenges facing businesses at the turn of the century
was obtaining information about government and finding ways to com-
municate effectively their interests to government officials. A great many
of the business associations made explicit efforts to provide a systematic
flow of politically relevant information among firms and between
firms and government. Those associations that initially formed without
explicitly political agendas found themselves by 1900 to be engaged
fully in the game of political information and communication. In fact,
for most associations formed after 1900, political communication was
typically a central function from the outset. The National Association
of Manufacturers is a good example. It formed in 1896, and was active
in policy on labor issues by 1903. 98
For government officials, the situation was similar. They wanted infor-
mation about constituent demands that parties could not ably provide.
Instead, officials found it more satisfactory to respond directly to the
clearly articulated demands and information provided by groups than to

97 98
Ibid., pp. 183–184. Truman, The Governmental Process.
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