ABSTRACT
It is no longer in vogue, as it was just a few years ago, to gush breathlessly about politics in the age of the Internet. In the late 1990s, many commentators were convinced that a new day had dawned in the life of our republic. Some said direct democracy was just around the corner, as tens of millions of Americans in “chat rooms” would form, in one author’s words, “a committee of the whole, made up of all citizens online.” Others predicted enormous increases in voter participation, the rise of a more informed and active populace, and a decline in the importance of money in politics. It seemed for a moment as though everything was about to change, and for the better. That moment has passed, and the subject seems to have been dropped.
