Technology-enabled political empowerment

Political participation and community involvement in the United States have declined steadily and significantly over the past four decades, and some attribute the fall to new media, such as television and the Internet. This thesis is a study of new technologies and their impact on political and community involvement. I-Neighbors.org is a technology allowing individuals register a free website and email list for their neighborhood. Through a particular feature of I-Neighbors called GovLink users can contact their elected officials for free. This thesis is based on a study of the behavior of I-Neighbors and GovLink users, looking for evidence that these technologies affect community involvement and political participation. Data gathered through surveys, the United States Census, and a short case study shows that new media can have a profound impact on community dialogue and political involvement.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Faber, Jacob William

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ceasar McDowell and Keith Hampton.

• Urban Studies and Planning.
• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34410

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34410