Case Study: Public Consensus Building on the Internet

Abstract

Many groups or organizations advocating different special interests or policies now promote and conduct grassroots movements online through their own web sites. On the basic assumption that collective activities on the Internet are another form of social phenomenon, the process of public consensus-building on the Internet, and the ways in which various functions available on the Internet were strategically used to facilitate the public's involvement and participation were examined. The Frame Alignment Process was adopted as a conceptual framework for this study. Based on this framework, four related but not identical processes--"frame bridging," "frame amplification," "frame extension," and "frame transformation"--were elaborated, and various functions on the Internet facilitating this frame alignment process were examined. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's successful online campaign to prevent the passage of the Communication Decency Act of 1996 was chosen as a real-world case to elaborate a frame alignment process and the effective use of various functions on the Internet.

Characterizing eParticipation

“…Myles (2004) Marxist forms of control (Schiller, 1996;Davis, Hirschl, & Stack, 1997) Exploitation of communications media to enhance elite control Abbott (2001), Huang (1998), Zheng and Wu (2005) Frame alignment process (Snow et al, 1986) Design issues and models for societal participation at the macro and micro levels Park (2002) Displacement theory (Robinson, Barth, & Kohut, 1997) The ''crowding out'' effect of new forms of communication (the new replacing the old)…”

“…Interpretive discourse (Aikens, 1998;Bekkers, 2004;Belanger & Carter, 2006;Berman & Witzner, 1997;Best & Krueger, 2005;Bimber, 2001;Bingham et al, 2005;Carlitz & Gunn, 2002;Chang, 2005;Curwell, Deakin, Cooper, & Paskaleva-Shapira, 2005;Dahlberg, 2001;Drechsler & Madise, 2002;Dutta-Bergman, 2005;Gro¨nlund, 2003b;Hoff et al, 2003;Hudson-Smith et al, 2005;Jensen, 2003a;Johnson & Kaye, 2004;Kenski, 2005;Klein, 1999;Luhrs et al, 2003;Lusoli & Ward, 2004;Macintosh & Smith, 2002a;Mahrer & Krimmer, 2005;McFall & Williams, 2004;Park, 2002;Polat, 2005;Roeder et al, 2005;Rosenblatt, 1999;Schaupp & Lemuria, 2005;Siapera, 2005;Sipior & Ward, 2005;Smith & Clark, 2005;Svensson & Leenes, 2003;Tambouris & Gorilas, 2003;Westholm, 2002;Whyte & Macintosh, 2001;Xenakis & Macintosh, 2005) Evans et al (2004), Fernandez-Maldo...…”

Mapping eParticipation Research: Four Central Challenges

“…In practice these motivations overlap in most contributions, and this table is intended to provide some relevant examples, rather than a comprehensive analysis. [Aikens 1998;Bimber 2001;Gronau et al 2005;Grönlund 2003b;Hoff et al 2003;Kakabadse et al 2003;Kampen and Snijkers 2003;Koch 2005;Macintosh 2004;Mahrer and Krimmer 2005;Masters et al 2004;Moreno-Jimenez and Polasek 2003;Pejout 2004; Saebo and Siapera 2005;Snellen 2001;Tambouris and Gorilas 2003;Watson and Mundy 2001] eGovernance -participation in institutional structures of authority and collaboration to allocate resources and coordinate or control activity in society or the economy [Bingham et al 2005; Moreno-Jimenez and Polasek 2005] eAccessibility -making eParticipation available to people with handicaps or disabilities [Jaeger 2004;Waddell 2000] eActivism -spontaneous (that is: not organized by government) political activity or agitation mediated by ICT [Chang 2005;George 2005;Lusoli and Ward 2004;Park 2002;Pickerill 2004; eCampaigning -political campaigning on the net [Park 2002;Stromer-Galley 2000] eCommunity -how ICT applications shape the instantiation of communities with a political focus, such as local political discussion forums. [Bekkers 2004;Chang 2005;Dutta-Bergman 2005;Fernandez-Maldonado 2005;Gross 2000;Huang 1998;Klein 1999;Macintosh et al 2005;…”

“…Institutional and governance theory The role of participation in the provision of public services and the professional management of government [Bingham et al 2005;Macintosh 2004;Roeder et al 2005] Habermas' theory of communicative action [1984] Selecting and evaluating Internet mediated interaction between government and citizens with the intent of stimulating more public participation [Fulla and Welch 2002;Grönlund 2003b; Sociology Structuration Theory [Giddens 1984] Examination of the conditions of society under which participation takes place Tambouris and Gorilas 2003] Weberian theory [Weber 1978] Explores the role of culture and modernization of society, raises the question of the effect of Internet technology on bureaucracy and economic institutions DiMaggio et al 2001] Bourdieu's and Taylor's social theories [Bourdieu 1992;Taylor 1985] Defines the understandings that underpin different forms of social practice and helps orient us in the context of deliberative methods [Myles 2004] Marxist forms of control, [Schiller 1996;Davis et al 1997] Exploitation of communications media to enhance elite control [Abbott 2001;Huang 1998;Zheng and Wu 2005] Frame alignment process [Snow et al 1986] Design issues and models for societal participation at the macro and micro levels [Park 2002] Displacement theory [Robinson et al 1997] The "crowding out" effect of new forms of communication (the new replacing the old)…”

“…Case study, (also project or system description, national evaluation) [Aikens 1998;Ainsworth et al 2005;Bekkers 2004;Chang 2005;Dahlberg 2001;Drechsler and Madise 2002;Evans et al 2004;Fernandez-Maldonado 2005;Fulla and Welch 2002;George 2005;Gibson 2001;Gronlund 2003;Hoff et al 2003;Huang 1998;Jensen 2003a;Jensen 2003b;Klein 1999;Macintosh 2004;Macintosh and Smith 2002;Mahrer and Krimmer 2005;Myles 2004;Papacharissi 2004;Park 2002;Pejout 2004;Roeder et al 2005;Rose 2004;Saebo and Paivarinta 2005;Siapera 2005;Westholm 2002;Whyte and Macintosh 2002] Grounded theory Mahrer and Krimmer 2005] Content analysis, textual or discourse analysis [Ainsworth et al 2005;Gustafsson 2002;Macintosh and Smith 2002;Papacharissi 2004;Rose and Saebø 2005; Saebo and Web site analysis [Siapera 2005;Stromer-Galley 2000] Action research [Aikens 1998;Hudson-Smith et al 2005;Lourenco and Costa 2006;…”