Digitally democratizing congress? technology and political accountability

Boston University Law Review

Volumn 89, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 641-675

  Schacter, Jane S ^a  

^a STANFORD LAW SCHOOL   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 67649553027     PISSN: 00068047     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (182)

1. 1 See, e.g., Change Congress, http://change-congress.org (last visited Feb. 2, 2009);
2. Earmark Watch: Bringing Citizen Oversight to Congressional Spending, http://earmarkwatch.org (last visited Feb. 3, 2009) (inviting users to investigate thousands of earmarks and share the information with other users on the website);
3. Sunlight Foundation, http://www.sunlightfoundation. com (last visited Feb. 3, 2009) (using the Internet to "shine a light on the interplay of money, lobbying, influence and government").
4. 2 See, e.g., Lobbying Reform: Accountability Through Transparency: Hearing Before the H. Comm. on Rules, 109th Cong. 1 (2006) (statement of Norman Ornstein, Resident Scholar, The American Enterprise Institute);
5. Change Congress, supra note 1.
6. 3 ALEXANDER M. BICKEL, THE LEAST DANGEROUS BRANCH 17 (1962).
7. 4 These concepts are analytically distinct from accountability but, at the same time, vulnerable to similar problems of deficit and asymmetry as those discussed in this Article. See Jane S. Schacter, Political Accountability, Proxy Accountability, and the Democratic Legitimacy of Legislatures, in THE LEAST EXAMINED BRANCH 43, 73-74 and 73 n. 102 (Richard W. Bauman and Tsvi Kahana eds., 2006) [hereinafter Schacter, Proxy].
8. 5 Jane S. Schacter, Accounting for Accountability in Statutory Interpretation and Beyond, in ISSUES in LEGAL SCHOLARSHIP: DYNAMIC STATUTORY I NTERPRETATION, Article 5, 5-16 (2002), available at http://www.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=ils [hereinafter Schacter, Accounting for Accountability] (presenting an empirical analysis of political accountability in the context of statutory interpretation);
9. Jane S. Schacter, Ely and the Idea of Democracy, 57 STAN. L. REV. 737, 755-59 (2004) [hereinafter Schacter, Ely]; Schacter, Proxy, supra note 4, at 73 ("[L]egislative accountability is far too thin, sporadic, and unequal to do the fundamental normative work... [asked] of it.").
10. 6 See Schacter, Accounting for Accountability, supra note 5, at 11; Schacter, Proxy, supra note 4, at 73.
11. 7 5 U. S. C. § 552 (2006).
12. 8 See Robert Ratish, Note, Democracy's Backlog: The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Ten Years Later, 34 RUTGERS COMPUTER and TECH. L. J. 211, 216 (2007) ("The process of review can be costly and time consuming for the average requester without the resources of a media outlet or well-organized watchdog organization. ");
13. Amy E. Rees, Note, Recent Developments Regarding the Freedom of Information Act: A "Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy: or Perhaps Both, " 44 DUKE L. J. 1183, 1223 (1995) (writing that despite lofty rhetoric, "FOIA rarely contributes to the awareness of the electorate"). Indeed, FOIA's limitations persist even after the "E-FOIA" amendments passed in the mid-1990s, designed to update FOIA in light of the Internet. Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-231, 110 Stat. 3048 (codified at 5 U. S. C. § 552 (2006)). The amendments have increased FOIA requests sufficiently to create large backlogs and have generated further legislative activity in a continuing effort to improve the efficiency of FOIA disclosure. See Ratish, supra, at 211.
14. 9 Pub. L. No. 102-166, 105 Stat. 1071 (codified at 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-5 (e) (2000)).
15. 10 I discuss this legislation and, more generally, the spin of law in Jane S. Schacter, The Pursuit of "Popular Intent": Interpretive Dilemmas in Direct Democracy, 105 YALE L. J. 107, 166 (1995).
16. 11 See infra Part II. B for a discussion of this disparate use of information.
17. 12 John A. Ferejohn, Information and the Electoral Process, in INFORMATION and DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES 3, 3 (John A. Ferejohn and James H. Kuklinski eds., 1990).
18. 13 Schacter, Proxy, supra note 4, at 47 (quoting and collecting sources).
19. 14 For an overview of such theories of "predictive accountability, " grounded in R. DOUGLAS ARNOLD, THE LOGIC of CONGRESSIONAL ACTION (1990), see Schacter, Proxy, supra note 4, at 50, 54-63 (assessing Arnold's theory that legislators' perceptions of electoral issues create a version of accountability).
20. 15 For an overview of theories that emphasize contemporary work in political heuristics, see Schacter, Proxy, supra note 4, at 51-52, 63-68.
21. 16 For an overview of the possibility of accountability through aggregation and disaggregation, see id. at 52-53, 68-72.
22. 17 See generally id.
23. 18 See infra Part II. A.2.
24. 19 See Schacter, Ely, supra note 5, at 758 (citing Samuel Issacharoff, Gerrymandering and Political Cartels, 116 HARV. L. REV. 593 (2002)).
25. 20 Posting of Eric Ostermeier to Smart Politics (Feb. 15, 2009 1:17), http://blog.lib.umn. edu/cspg/smartpolitics/2009/02/democrats-in-stronger- position. php. For a breakdown by congressional district, see Unofficial 2008 Election Results, CONGRESSDAILY (last visited Apr. 3, 2009), http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/issues/images/graphics-2008/ cd-electionResults-081218.pdf.
26. 21 See Alan I. Abramowitz et al., Incumbency, Redistricting, and the Decline of Competition in U. S. House Elections, 68 J. POL. 75, 76 (2006);
27. Ostermeier, supra note 20.
28. 22 MICHAEL X. DELLI CARPINI and SCOTT KEETER, WHAT AMERICANS KNOW AND WHY IT MATTERS 271 (1989).
29. 23 See generally Kay Lehman Schlozman et al., Inequalities of Political Voice, in INEQUALITY AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY (Lawrence R. Jacobs and Theda Skocpol eds., 2005) (providing in-depth analysis of political inequality in the United States over time).
30. 24 Michael X. Delli Carpini and Scott Keeter, The Internet and an Informed Citizenry, in THE CIVIC WEB 129, 132-33, 139-45 (David M. Anderson and Michael Cornfield eds., 2003).
31. 25 Martin Gilens, Inequality and Democratic Responsiveness, 69 PUB. OPINION Q. 778, 788 (2005). For work pointing in a similar direction, see LARRY M. BARTELS, UNEQUAL DEMOCRACY 257-82 (2008) (examining responsiveness of senators based upon their constituents' income levels);
32. Lawrence R. Jacobs and Theda Skocpol, American Democracy in an Era of Rising Inequality, in INEQUALITY AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, supra note 23, at 11.
33. 26 See MANCUR OLSON, THE LOGIC of COLLECTIVE ACTION 6-7 (1965).
34. 27 Schacter, Ely, supra note 5, at 759; see also Schacter, Proxy, supra note 4, at 48. For a perspective on interest group dynamics and accountability in the realm of the federal budget, see Elizabeth Garrett, Accountability and Restraint: The Federal Budget Process and the Line Item Veto Act, 20 CARDOZO L. REV. 871, 925-36 (1999).
35. 28 See generally Daniel W. Drezner and Henry Farrell, Introduction: Blogs, Politics and Power, 134 PUB. CHOICE 1 (2008) (examining the "empirical and normative consequences of blogs for politics").
36. 29 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-282, 120 Stat. 1186.
37. 30 See Stevens, Byrd Held Up Transparency Bill, FED. TIMES, Sept. 4, 2006, at 3.
38. 31 See William F. Patry, Copyright and the Legislative Process: A Personal Perspective, 14 CARDOZO ARTS and ENT. L. J. 139, 147-48 (1996) (detailing how even the sponsor of the legislation is unable to learn who placed a hold on legislation);
39. Anonymous Holds Still Slowing Bills in Senate, BULLETIN'S FRONTRUNNER, Nov. 16, 2001.
40. 32 Andrea Koppel et al., Sen. Stevens Is the "Secret Senator, " CNN. COM, Aug. 30, 2006, http://www.cnn. com/2006/POLITICS/08/30/secret. senators/.
41. 33 Porkbusters, Who Is the Secret Holder?, http://porkbusters.org/ secrethold.php (last visited Feb. 12, 2009);
42. TPMmuckraker, TPMmuckraker's "Secret Hold" Tally, http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/secret-hold.php (last visited Feb. 12, 2009).
43. 34 Posting of Senator Bill Frist to VOLPAC, http://www.volpac.org/index. cfm?FuseAction=Blogs. View&Blog-id=435 (Aug. 29, 2006, 3:47 PM) ("[T]o get this bill passed, 1 am calling on all members, when asked by the blog community, to instruct their staff to answer whether or not they have a hold, honestly, and transparently, so I can pass the bill.").
44. 35 For a good overview, see Drezner and Farrell, supra note 28, at 3 (writing that bloggers "nail the scalps of politicians and media figures to the wall" by investigating and relentlessly pursuing stories). See also ROBERT J. KLOTZ, THE POLITICS of INTERNET COMMUNICATION 120-32 (2004)
45. cf. Jane B. Singer, The Political J-Blogger: "Normalizing" a New Media Form to Fit Old Norms and Practices, 6 JOURNALISM 173, 192 (2005) (discussing movement in journalism "away from the neutral stance of the traditional journalist").
46. 36 Drezner and Farrell, supra note 28, at 3-4.
47. 37 On media use of blogs, see id. at 2; Singer, supra note 35, at 183-93. On the frequent reading of blogs by congressional staffers, see T. NEIL SROKA, THE INST, for POLITICS, DEMOCRACY and the INTERNET, UNDERSTANDING the POLITICAL INFLUENCE of BLOGS 15 (2007), http://www.ipdi.org/UploadedFiles/ PoliticalInfluenceofBlogs.pdf (finding that 90.7% of respondents in a survey of congressional staffers said that they or another in their office read blogs).
48. 38 Henry Farrell and Daniel W. Drezner, The Power and Politics of Blogs, 134 PUB. CHOICE 15, 23 (2008) (reporting that "media elites" such as Paul Krugman, Fareed Zakaria, and David Brooks "have indicated that blogs form a part of their information-gathering activities").
49. 39 OpenCongress, http://www.opencongress.org/(last visited Mar. 10, 2009).
50. 40 Sunlight also pursues congressional transparency in other ways, including through projects that make information readily accessible about foreign lobbyists, financial disclosures by legislators, and revolving-door-type arrangements with respect to congressional staff. Sunlight Foundation, supra note 1.
51. 41 Project Vote Smart, http://www.votesmart.org/(last visited Feb. 4, 2009).
52. 42 OpenSecrets.org, http://www.opensecrets.org/(last visited Feb. 4, 2009).
53. 43 Change Congress, supra note 1 (calling for a "donor strike" on campaign contributions to federal candidates until election reforms are passed).
54. 44 Even as Congress made the transition to the Internet, many of the resources remained unmanageable. See Eve Gerber, How Congress Resists the Web, SLATE, Dec. 1, 1999, http://www.slate.com/id/56807/.
55. 45 Library of Congress THOMAS, http://thomas.loc.gov/(last visited Feb. 4, 2009).
56. 46 See Tim O'Reilly, What Is Web 2.0?, O'REILLY. COM, Sept. 30, 2005, http://www.oreillynet.eom/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/ 30/what-is-web-20.html.
57. 47 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, H. R. 1424, 110th Cong. (2008). For the final version, see Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-343, 122 Stat. 3765. The bill was made available by the Senate as a PDF document on the morning of October 1, 2008. PublicMarkup.org - Senate Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Oct. 1, 2008), http://publicmarkup.org/bill/senate-emergencyeconomic-stabilization-act-2008/. It passed the Senate with seventy-four votes at 9:22 p. m. the same day. 154 CONG. REC. S10, 294 (daily ed. Oct. 1, 2008).
58. 48 PublicMarkup.org - Transparency in Government Act 2008, http://publicmarkup.org/bill/transparency-govemment-act-2008/(last visited Mar. 2, 2009) (drafting model legislation to increase transparency). For more information on Sunlight's model for collaborative legislative drafting, PublicMarkup.org, see Posting of Ellen Miller to The Sunlight Foundation Blog, http://blog.sunlightfoundation. com/2008/03/31/publicmarkuporg/(Mar. 31, 2008, 2:07 PM).
59. 49 House of Representatives' Web Site Overwhelmed, CNN. COM, Sept. 30, 2008, http://www.cnn. com/2008/POLITICS/09/30/congress.website/index.html.
60. 50 See, e.g., Michelle Malkin, McCain Will Support Earmark-Stuffed Senate Crap Sandwich; Obama: Me Too!, http://michellemalkin. com/2008/10/01/mccain-will-supportearmark-stuffed-senate-crap-sandwich (Oct. 1, 2008, 11:15);
61. Posting of Ed Morrissey to Hot Air, http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/ 01/senate-bailout-bill-hits-the-internet (Oct. 1, 2008, 10:24);
62. Senate Conservatives Fund, Using Panic to Pass Pork, http:// senateconservatives.com/2008/10/01/using-panic-to-pass-pork/(Oct. 1, 2008).
63. 51 See, e.g., Carl Hulse, Pressure Builds on House After Senate Backs Bailout, N. Y. TIMES, Oct. 2, 2008, at Al; Posting of Sarah Lai Stirland to Wired's Threat Level Blog, http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/ 2008/10/senate-passes-b.html (Oct. 1, 2008, 9:41:55 PM).
64. 52 Darrel Rowland, Belief in Election Lies Persist, Poll Finds, COLUMBUS DISPATCH, Dec. 13, 2008, http://www.dispatch.com/ live/content/local-news/stories/2008/12/13/electionlies.html? (reporting a post-election poll that nearly a fifth of Americans believed the Internet rumors that Barack Obama is a Muslim).
65. 53 About.com, Urban Legends: Congress Planning to Reinstate Military Draft, http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-draft.htm (last visited Feb. 9, 2009).
66. 54 Snopes.com, Nancy Pelosi Tax on Windfall Profits, http://snopes.com/ politics/pelosi/windfall.asp (last visited Mar. 9, 2009).
67. 55 FactCheck.org, Draft Fears Fueled by Inaccurate E-mails (Sept. 29, 2004), http://www.factcheck.org/draft-fears-fueled-by-inaccurate-e-mails.html; Snopes.com, Draft Fear, http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp (last visited Mar. 10, 2009);
68. Snopes.com, Nancy Pelosi Tax on Windfall Profits, supra note 54.
69. 56 AARON SMITH and LEE RAINIE, PEW INTERNET and AM. LIFE PROJECT, THE INTERNET and the 2008 ELECTION at i (2008), http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP-2008election.pdf.
70. 57 Id. at ii.
71. 58 Id. at iv.
72. 59 Robert C. Luskin, From Denial to Extenuation (and Finally Beyond): Political Sophistication and Citizen Performance, in THINKING ABOUT POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY 281, 282 (James H. Kuklinski ed., 2002).
73. 60 The role and activities of C-SPAN are described in About C-SPAN, http://www.cspan.org/About/Default.aspx (last visited Feb. 9, 2009) (describing its mission "to provide public access to the political process").
74. 61 Internet Now a Major Source of Campaign News, PEW RES. CTR. (Oct. 31, 2008), http://pewresearch. Org/pubs/l 017/internet-now-major-source-of-campaign-news (finding that the Internet "now rivals newspapers as a main source for campaign news").
75. 62 Press Release, Nat'l Annenberg Election Survey, Internet as Political Information Tool Popular, but Television Still Dominates, Annenberg Study Finds 1 (Mar. 28, 2008), available at http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter. org/NewsDetails.aspx?myId=272.
76. 63 Id. (quoting Ken Winneg, Managing Dir. of the Nat'l Annenberg Election Survey).
77. 64 Hardball (MSNBC television broadcast Oct. 17, 2008).
78. 65 "Anti-American" Comments Hurt Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's Campaign, N. Y. DAILY NEWS. oct. 21, 2008, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/10/21/2008-10-21-antiamerican- comments-hurt-minnesota-rep.html;
79. sam stein, Michele bachmann channels mccarthy: obama "very anti-american, " congressional witch hunt needed, HUFFINGTON POST, oct. 17, 2008, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/17/gop- repchannels-mccarthy-n-135735.html.
80. 66 Posting of Jed Lewison to Daily Kos, http://www.dailykos.com/ storyonly/2008/10/17/181519/90 (Oct. 17, 2008 17:15 PDT).
81. 67 P. J. Huffstutter, Michele Bachmann's Rival Reaps Benefits of Her 'Hardball' Comments, L. A. TIMES, Oct. 23, 2008, at Al.
82. 68 Pat Doyle, GOP Fundraising Committee Pulls Plug on Bachmann, MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIB, Oct. 23, 2008, at 5B, available at http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/32668654. html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUnc5PDiUiD3aPc:-Yyc:aUU.
83. 69 Paul Frymer and Albert Yoon, Political Parties, Representation, and Federal Safeguards, 96 NW. U. L. REV. 977, 1006-08 (2002).
84. 70 Pat Doyle, Bachmann Declares Victory in Sixth District, MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIB, Nov. 5, 2008, at 20A, available at http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/33871694. html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDU0aEyqyP40:DW3ckUiD3aPc:-Yyc:aUnciaec807EyUsl.
85. 71 See infra Part II. B.l.
86. 72 Jody Baumgartner and Jonathan S. Morris, The Daily Show Effect: Candidate Evaluations, Efficacy, and American Youth, 34 AM. POL. RES. 341, 343-44 (2006).
87. 73 Joan Anderman, Video Woven with Obama Speech Catches Fire on YouTube, BOSTON GLOBE, Feb. 7, 2008, at A15. The YouTube video, entitled Yes We Can, had received nearly 17.2 million views as of March 31, 2009. YouTube, Yes We Can - Barack Obama Music Video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY (last visited Feb. 10, 2009).
88. 74 Websites like FundRace.org make information about donors and amounts given readily accessible. Campaign Donors: Fundrace 2008, http://fundrace. huffingtonpost.com/(last visited Feb. 10, 2009).
89. 75 Congresspedia, http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title= Congresspedia (last visited Feb. 10, 2009) (billing itself as "[t]he citizen's encyclopedia on Congress that you can edit").
90. 76 See Leslie Sanchez, Commentary: GOP Needs to Catch up to Obama 's Web Savvy, CNN. COM, Nov. 9, 2008, http://www.cnn. com/2008/POLITICS/11/07/sanchez.technology/(remarking that Obama signed up 2.4 million Facebook users to McCain's 624, 000, made effective use of Facebook to get out the vote, and in general used web resources more creatively and extensively).
91. 77 Jordan Golson, Facebook Users Change Middle Names to Hussein in Obama Solidarity Protest, INDUSTRY STANDARD, aug. 14, 2008, http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/08/14/facebook-users-change-middle- nameshussein-obama-solidarity-protest.
92. 78 SMITH and RAINIE supra note 56, at ii ("10% of all Americans have used sites such as Facebook or MySpace for some kind of political activity. That amounts to 14% of Internet users and fully 40% of those who have created profiles on such sites.").
93. 79 Christine Williams and Girish Gulati, Social Networks in Political Campaigns: Facebook and the 2006 Midterm Elections 6 (Aug. 30, 2007) (unpublished manuscript presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, available at http://www.allacademic.com/ meta/p208735-index.html) (indicating that the "membership eligibility rules prior to 2006 precluded most candidates from establishing their own profiles, " but that in 2006, Facebook created profiles for each candidate that allowed an unlimited number of supporters and gave access to the candidate's staff to personalize the profile).
94. 80 Brian Stelter, MySpace Might Have Friends, but It Wants Ad Money, N. Y. TIMES, June 16, 2008, at C4.
95. 81 SMITH and RAINIE, supra note 56, at ii.
96. 82 J. W. CRUMP, THE BIVINGS GROUP, THE INTERNET'S ROLE in POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS: 2008, at 4 (2008), http://www.bivings.com/thelab/ 2008SenateReportTBG.pdf.
97. 83 SMITH and RAINIE, supra note 56, at ii.
98. 84 Id. at 10.
99. 85 Williams and Gulati, supra note 79, at 2.
100. 86 See id.
101. 87 Facebook, No Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants!, http://www.facebookxom/ s.php?init=&q=no+amnesty+for+illegal+immigrants&ref=ts&sid= 34497elde8658f30a899a70d7f5f3a99#/group. php?sid= 34497elde8658f30a899a70d7f5f3a99&gid=2207701506&ref=search (last visited Feb. 18, 2009).
102. 88 Daffodil Altan, Walking Out and Standing Up, IN THESE TIMES, Apr. 20, 2006, http://www.inthesetimes.com/ article/2612/walking-out-and-standing-up (reporting that "fliers, text messages, MySpace bulletins" circulated through schools leading to "massive student walkouts" that were "among the largest in California's history"). I return to this point below to consider how these technologies affect the dynamics of interest groups and offer new means of mobilizing political action. See infra Part II. B.l.
103. 89 Ari Melber, MySpace, MyPolitics, THE NATION, May 30, 2006, http://www.thenation. com/doc/20060612/melber.
104. 90 Id. A good example is the MySpace page of "g, " a high school student from Los Angeles. MySpace.com, g, http://www.myspace.com/ ilykdat (last visited Feb. 10, 2009) ("I like to eat and im [sic] pretty lazy."). Melber reports that the page was usually "devoted to Nike sneakers and rap music" but that in April 2006, "g" posted a message to friends encouraging them to participate in the "National Boycott for Immigrant Rights No Work! No School! No Business as Usual!" See Melber, supra note 89.
105. 91 For more on the question of whether the Internet is engaging new people in politics, see infra Part II. B.l.
106. 92 Ten Likely Events in 2008, Bus. WEEK, Jan. 2, 2008, http://www.businessweek.conVbwdaily/dnflash/content/dec2007/db20071229-145447. htm.
107. 93 See Curtis Gilbert, Senate Candidates Learn the Pitfalls of Online Politics, MINN. PUB. RADIO, Jan. 24, 2008, http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/01/23/socialnetworking/ (describing negative comments on Senator Norm Coleman's Facebook site).
108. 94 See Travis Pittman, Impeach Obama Facebook Group Launched in Seattle, KING5.COM, NOV. 6, 2008, http://www.king5.com/ news/specials/politics/stories/NW-110608POB-obama-facebook-impeachment-TP. 187ae7c08.html.
109. 95 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-282, 120 Stat. 1186.
110. 96 See supra notes 30-34 and accompanying text regarding the bloggers who uncovered the identity of the senators who secretly placed a hold on this bill.
111. 97 Jose Antonio Vargas, Obama Raised Half a Billion Online, WASH. POST, Nov. 11, 2008, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ thetrail/2008/1 l/20/obama-raised-half-a-billion-on.html;
112. Holly Watt, Obama Went Online to Build an Army of Fans, SUNDAY TIMES (London), Nov. 9, 2008, at 16, available at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us-and-americas/us-elections/ article5114836. ece.
113. 98 Neil Munro, FEC Rules Leave Loopholes for Online Donation Data, NAT'L J., Oct. 24, 2008, http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no- 20081024-9865.php.
114. 99 See, e.g., Thomas Cmar, Toward a Small Donor Democracy: The Past and Future of Incentive Programs for Small Political Contributions, 32 FORDHAM URB. L. J. 443 (2005).
115. 100 See supra notes 64-70 and accompanying text.
116. 101 See generally ARNOLD, supra note 14.
117. 102 See Schacter, Proxy, supra note 4, at 54-63.
118. 103 See ARNOLD, supra note 14, at 84.
119. 104 See id
120. 105 Id. at 54-63.
121. 106 Daily Kos, http://www.dailykos.com/(last visited Jan. 31, 2009);
122. RedState, http://www.redstate.com/(last visited Jan. 31, 2009).
123. 107 See supra note 37 and accompanying text.
124. 108 Facebook, http://www.facebook.com (last visited Feb. 19, 2009).
125. 109 See BRAD FITCH and KATHY GOLDSCHMIDT, CONG. MGMT. FOUND., COMMUNICATING with CONGRESS: HOW CAPITOL HILL is COPING with the SURGE in CITIZEN ADVOCACY 15 (2005), http://www.cmfweb.org/storage/cmfweb/documents/CMF- Pubs/communicatingwithcongress-report1.pdf.
126. 110 Id. at 14.
127. 111 Id.
128. 112 See id. at 26.
129. 113 SROKA, supra note 37, at 12 (emphasis added);
130. KATHY GOLDSCHMIDT, CONG. ONLINE PROJECT, E-MAIL OVERLOAD in CONGRESS: MANAGING a COMMUNICATIONS CRISIS 3 (2001), http://www.cmfweb.org/storage/cmfweb/documents/CMF-Pubs/e-mailoverload.pdf.
131. 114 FITCH and GOLDSCHMIDT, supra note 109, at 27-28.
132. 115 CLAY SHIRKY, HERE COMES EVERYBODY: THE POWER of ORGANIZING WITHOUT ORGANIZATIONS 287 (2008).
133. 116 Id. at 288.
134. 117 COLLIN BURDEN, CONG. MGMT. FOUND., 2007 GOLD MOUSE REPORT: LESSONS from the BEST WEB SITES on CAPITOL HILL 20 (2007), http://nposoapbox.s3.amazonaws.com/ cmfweb/2007-GoldMouseReport.pdf.
135. 118 Id. at 13.
136. 119 The Sunlight Foundation created the Open House Project to facilitate study of how the House of Representatives integrates the Internet into its operations and to suggest ways to promote public access to its work and members. See The Open House Project Recommendation Checklist, http://www.theopenhouseproject.com/resources/checklist/(last visited Feb. 18, 2009). The Congressional Management Foundation has also published a report of its recommendations. TIM HYSOM, CONG. MGMT. FOUND., COMMUNICATING with CONGRESS: RECOMMENDATIONS for IMPROVING the DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE (2008), http://www.cmfweb.org/storage/cmfweb/documents/CMF- Pubs/cwc-recommendationsrepo rt.pdf.
137. 120 See GOLDSCHMIDT, supra note 113, at 41; SROKA, supra note 37, at 11-12.
138. 121 See supra note 76-77 and accompanying text.
139. 122 See Welcome to the White House, http://www.whitehouse.gov/ (last visited Feb. 19, 2009).
140. 123 Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team, http://change.gov/ content/home (last visited Mar. 2, 2009);
141. see also Shalaigh Murray and Matthew Mosk, Under Obama, Web Would be the Way, WASH. POST, Nov. 10, 2008, at A2
142. Stephanie Condon, Obama Policy Docs to Live on Change.gov, CNET NEWS, Dec. 8, 2008, http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578-3- 10117938-38.html
143. Helene Cooper, The Direct Approach, N. Y. TIMES, Dec. 18, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/us/politics/19web-cooper.html?-r=2.
144. 124 Some on the right have questioned the legality of Obama's use of his campaign email list for grassroots lobbying. See Karl Rove, Op-Ed, Organizing the White House Is Obama's First Test, WALL ST. J., Dec. 18. 2008, at Al. How the Obama White House plans to use the campaign's organizing tools remains to be seen.
145. See, e.g., Lisa Taddeo, The Man Who Made Obama, ESQUIRE, Feb. 2, 2009, http://www.esquire.com/features/david-plouffe- 0309 (asserting that it is David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager - not a part of the new administration - who owns the "thirteen-million-name contact list").
146. 125 See Murray and Mosk, supra note 123.
147. 126 See supra Part II. A.
148. 127 PIPPA NORRIS, DIGITAL DIVIDE: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, INFORMATION POVERTY, AND the INTERNET WORLDWIDE 229-31 (2001).
149. 128 See BRUCE BIMBER, INFORMATION AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY: TECHNOLOGY in the EVOLUTION of POLITICAL POWER 219 (2003);
150. Samuel J. Best and Brian S. Krueger, Analyzing the Representativeness of Internet Political Participation, 27 POL. BEHAV. 183, 185-86 (2005);
151. Schlozman et al., supra note 23, at 68-69.
152. 129 BIMBER, supra note 128, at 219.
153. 130 See id. at 217.
154. 131 Delli Carpini and Keeter, supra note 24, at 141-42. For their earlier work on gaps on political knowledge, pre-Internet, see generally DELLI CARPINI and KEETER, supra note 22.
155. 132 See Schacter, Proxy, supra note 4, at 51-52.
156. 133 Id. at 67-68.
157. 134 See Best and Krueger, supra note 128, at 197.
158. 135 Id.
159. 136 See generally NORRIS, supra note 127.
160. 137 SUSANNAH FOX and GRETCHEN LIVINGSTON, PEW HISPANIC CTR and PEW INTERNET PROJECT LATINOS ONLINE at I (2007), http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/latinos-online-march-14-2007.pdf.
161. 138 ID. AT 12.
162. 159 JOHN B. HORRIGAN, PEW INTERNET AND AM. LIFE PROJECT, HOME BROADBAND ADOPTION 2008, at 3 (2008), http://www.pewintemet. org/pdfs/PIP-Broadband-2008.pdf.
163. 140 Id.
164. 141 BASMAT PARSAD and JENNIFER JONES, U. S. DEP'T of EDUC, Internet ACCESS in U. S. PUBLIC SCHOOLS and CLASSROOMS: 1994-2003, at 4-5 (2005), http://www.schoolwires.com/5420101117101838280/lib/5420101117101838280/- files/200 5015-NCES-InternetAccessinPublicSchools.pdf.
165. 142 See Mark Warschauer, Michele Knobel and Leeann Stone, Technology and Education in Schooling: Deconstructing the Digital Divide, 18 EDUC. POL'Y 562, 585-86 (2004).
166. 143 Cf. CASS SUNSTEIN, REPUBLIC.COM 66 (2001) (stating that Internet users frequently seek out like-minded others online). But see YOCHAI BENKLER, THE WEALTH of NETWORKS: HOW SOCIAL PRODUCTION TRANSFORMS MARKETS AND FREEDOM 257 (2006) (discussing studies that suggest a less polarized picture of the Web than the one sketched by Sunstein).
167. 144 INST, for POLITICS, DEMOCRACY and the INTERNET, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIV, POLIFLUENTIALS the NEW POLITICAL KINGMAKERS 1 (2008), http://www.ipdi.org/uploadedfiles/polifluentials%20report%20-%20final. pdf.
168. 145 ID. AT 42.
169. 146 ID. AT 3.
170. 147 SEE BIMBER, supra note 128, at 229.
171. 148 See Congresspedia, supra note 75; The Open House Project Recommendation Checklist, supra note 119.
172. 149 BIMBER, supra note 128, at 22.
173. 150 Id. at 21.
174. 151 See HOWARD RHEINGOLD, SMART MOBS: THE NEXT SOCIAL REVOLUTION 13 (2003).
175. 152 SHIRKY, supra note 115, at 156.
176. 153 Id. at 156-60, 172-87, 295.
177. 154 See generally R. Karl Rethemeyer, The Empires Strike Back: Is the Internet Corporatizing Rather Than Democratizing Policy Processes?, 19 PUB. ADMIN. REV. 199 (2007).
178. 155 Id. at 202.
179. 156 Grassroots Enterprises, http://www.grassroots.com/(last visited Feb. 3, 2009).
180. 157 Id.
181. 158 See generally BIMBER, supra note 128.
182. 159 See NORRIS, supra note 127, at 229.