Di+Giambattista+Mara

__Lab 8__

For the Issue Analysis paper I plan to examine how the Internet has changed the democratic process, and look for possible conclusions as to where we as a North American society are headed in terms of potential for the democratic process and the web.

I plan to look into the democratic process on a global scale, and how it has changed but will be focusing on the changes in the North American society. I would like to find demographics that show percentage of engagement in recent elections, too prove how through the use of the internet in marketing material for candidates, especially with the emergence of web 2.0 applications, the number of people who have voted has in fact increased.

Here is the link to my final project: [|http://individual.utoronto.ca/digiambattistam/index.html]

Beshoy Sidrak 996008430

** Critical Analysis of “The Inernet and Democracy” by Mara DiGiambatista **

[]

In this paper the author’s main point is that “… the internet as a communication device has enhanced the democratic process, especially within the last election…” (DiGiambatista). She supports this argument by citing several examples pertaining to the 2008 Obama campaign, praising his use of the Internet and communication technology to build a virtual community that facilitates two-way communication between politicians and the public. This enhances the democratic system by: allowing the candidate to more accurately and personally demonstrate his/her beliefs and goals to the people; and by giving the people an opportunity to inquire about more specific topics and express more specific concerns. Although, this has been beneficial for candidates it can also serve as a double-edged sword. With the help of Web 2.0 people against Obama were able to start controversial debates about his religious background, childhood and smoking habits. Information and even photographs traveled rapidly across the country and it was not long before the candidate had to speak publically on these issues. This shows that the power of t he Internet and communication technology may not always work to the benefit of the candidate, however, they still do enhance the democratic process by providing the public with a complete image of their future president.

=Critical Analysis by __Francis Lopetegui 990821447__= An interesting topic, especially with the political climate we are experiencing here in North America. The role of the Internet during the 2008 Presidential Elections mark the first time that the medium was use effectively. It was especially important for the Democratic Party since a large portion of their voter base is young adults 18 to 29 yrs. It would be dangerous to ignore this sometime unreachable market. The Democrats worked hard to raise the number of youth voters to 47% in 2004 - a huge number considering that historically youths have not played a significant part in the voter process. Even more amazing is that in 2008, which number rose to 49% - a significantly statistical increase [1]. Since Obama won the election by just 3%, it could be argued that Obama could have won by a very slim margin, or lost the election based on low youth voter turnout. It turned out that Obama lost in every key demographic - except the youth vote. Another significant advantage Obama had over his rivals was the ability to raise money over the Internet. Obama raised almost 3x more money than the 'front runner' Hillary Clinton in January 2008 due to small donations over the Internet, which quickly added up [2]. The other major contribution to the electoral process over the Internet was YOUTUBE role in the presidential debates. For the first time, a major new network CNN joined YOUTUBE in hosting one of the presidential debates. It allowed its members to pose questions to the candidates. Apparently, these debates were rated as some of the highest in that year - especially among the age group 18-34 [3]. The last Internet tool that i feel helped is blogs. Here we see a paperless media were others can state their views used to stimulate debate. Some of the most popular blogs are the Huffington Post (Liberal)[4], and Michelle  Malkin  (conservative)[5]. There is little doubt that the only reason these blogs became popular is because: Overall Great Topic, i agree with your assessment of the impact it had in the last election. Rather then directly comment on your points, I used some of them to try and demonstrate how they related to the most recent  US election. Its very hard to be critical about your piece when you agree with it. 1. [] 2. [] 3. [] 4. [] 5. []
 * The accessibility of the Internet
 * Others spreading word of mouth, and Hyper linking other to these blogs
 * Ability for people with similar interest to gather in one place to talk about political issues that matter to them.