In previous chapters, I frequently refer to the Internet and other computer technologies as potentially facilitating transborder democratic participation, and I would like now to focus more directly on these possibilities. Our question here will be, can technological networking in fact facilitate political networking and do so in a way that has genuine democratic effects? If so, what principles can helpfully guide this process?

Technology and Politics

To frame these issues adequately, we can begin by reflecting on a little-known but interesting detail about Thomas Edison that Anthony Wilhelm cites in his book Democracy in the Digital Age: that the first invention on which Edison was granted a patent was a “revolutionary vote Recorder.” As Wilhelm tells it, Edison sent his device in 1869 to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate it to a congressional committee in hopes that the members would appreciate the new efficiency that this innovative voting technology produced. The congressmen would only have to flip a switch at their desks, and their votes would be instantly recorded and counted by the vote recorder machine situated on the clerk's desk. Needless to say, as it turned out, the congressional leaders strenuously objected to this new device on the grounds that it made it impossible for minorities to gain advantage by changing votes or filibustering legislation. This efficient device, in short, threatened to get in the way of the longer time frame that minority groups required to persuade (or coerce) others to come over to their viewpoint.