ABSTRACT
THE newest of the most recent round of new communication technologies, which center on computer networks and the various modalities of computer-mediated communication that networks enable, have set off an avalanche of speculation regarding their prospects for improving, supplementing, or extending democratic practices in our society. The idea that communication technology can be used in the service of democratic political aspirations has been inspirational for many. However, those born prior to the diffusion of television are likely to find such prognostications familiar and naive; at one time, television was seen to hold considerably greater promise for enhancing democracy than it has lived up to (Abrahamson, Arterton, Orren, 1988; McQuail, 1995).
