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The Internet and Politics
Agenda for Today• Review and discuss article by Bonchek
• how the Net affects interest groups• how to identify the causal argument in
a reading
• return quotation analyses
• course changes• midterm evaluation
The Internet and Politics
Transaction costs• “The costs other than the money price
that are incurred in trading goods or services.”
• including:• Search and information costs• Bargaining and decision costs• Policing and enforcement costs
The Internet and Politics
Bonchek: Introduction What effect do computer networks have
on grassroots political activity?
Does computer-mediated communication (CMC) facilitate collective action?
Why have so many organizations and individuals taken to computer networks as a medium for political communication?
“The argument presented is that CMC facilitates collective action by reducing transaction costs related to group organization.”
The Internet and Politics
2. Transaction CostsTransaction Costs and Collective Action
• 2.1 Economics
• 2.2 Politics
• 2.3 Collective Action• political action vs “common pool
resource problems”
• 2.4 Organizational Costs
The Internet and Politics
Organizational CostsTransaction Costs and Collective Action
2.4 Organizational Costs • Communications costs• Coordination costs
• Collaborating• Reaching a decision• Planning
• Information Costs• Search• Retrieval• Interpretation
The Internet and Politics
Collective Action3. Do Transaction Costs Reduce
Collective Action?
3.1 Group Formation
3.2 Group Efficiency
3.3 Member Recruitment
3.4 Member Retention
The Internet and Politics
Impact of CMCDoes CMC Reduce Transaction Costs?
4.1 Properties
4.2 Speed and Cost
4.3 Asynchronous Communication
4.4 Many-to-Many Communication
4.5 Intelligent Communication
4.6 Impact on Transaction Costs
The Internet and Politics
Case Studies 5.1 Chinese Students: IFSCSS
5.2 Community Networking: PEN
5.3 Smoking Policy: SCARCNet
5.4 Online Government Access: Jim Warren
5.5 Institute for Global Communications
5.6 White Supremacist and Neo-Nazi Movements
5.7 Information Infrastructure: TPR and CPSR
The Internet and Politics
Analysis of Case Studies
some groups will benefit more from CMC than others
groups that benefit most: broad geographic distribution of members large volume of intraorganizational
communication high value placed on info as selective benefit poor access to mainstream media
The Internet and Politics
Bonchek: Conclusion to take advantage of CMC must:
have access to computers have computer skills be on a computer network
Groups with natural affinity for computers are in the best position
Computer access as a political resource
The Internet and Politics
Bonchek: Argument Hypothesis
Independent variable
Dependent variable
Observable implications
Causal relationship
Research method
Unit of Analysis
Cases
The Internet and Politics
Bonchek: Issues Dependent variable
Case selection
Other side of the equation: benefits
Following the argument to its conclusion
The Internet and Politics
Quotation Analysis NOT GRADED -- all that matters was that you
submitted the assignment
For your benefit:
√+: successfully explained quotation AND overall argument
√ : successfully explained quotation only
√ : misinterpreted the quotation itself
The Internet and Politics
Course changes Discussion board participation no longer
required.
Participation will still be considered.
For Thursday…no Poblocki.
The Internet and Politics
Discussion
