The March 2008 edition of IPDI’s semi-annual online journal of research, commentary, and analysis on technology and politics.

In this issue, David Faris looks the way citizens used social networking sites and mobile phones to spread political rumors in Egypt. James Valentine questions whether the wisdom of crowds can produce creative thought. Lowell Feld analyzes the online Draft Jim Webb movement in 2006.

In our research section, Dave Karpf measures influence in the political blogosphere, while Christine Williams and Girish Gulati look at the political impact of Facebook on the 2006 elections and the 2008 presidential race.

CONTENTS:

1 Introduction
Julie Barko Germany (Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet)

5 Section 1– Drafting an American Hero
Lowell Feld (Editor, Raising Kaine, Editor, Badlands Blue, Netroots Coordinator, Judy Feder for Congress)
Nate Wilcox (Senior Advisor, WebStrong Group)

25 Section 3 – Uncreative Commons?
James Valentine (U.S. Coast Guard)

29 Section 4 – No Time, No Emails, No Problem: Translating American Online Strategies into a Successful Latin American Campaign:
Rodrigo Lugones (Executive Director of Duran Barba & Asociados)

33 Section 5 – Measuring Influence in the Political Blogosphere: Who’s Winning, and How Can We Tell?
David Karpf (PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of
Pennsylvania)

45 Section 6 – Cyber-libertarians: The Internet Unleashed, A Government Challenged?
Christopher Wimbush (The Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet)

51 Section 7 – The Web, the Cell Phone and the Mubarak Death Crisis of 2007
David M. Faris (PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania)

61 Section 8 – Scandal and the Possible Emergence of a Fifth Establishment: The influence of partisan blogs and the mainstream media in political scandal coverage
Alex Kellner (The Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet)

69 Contributors

Download Politics and Technology Review, March 2008

PDF format, 3.3MB, 80Pages.

© GW’s Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet.
The editor is Christopher Wimbush.
The date of publication is March 4, 2008.

The Politics & Technology Review is a regular publication produced by GW’s Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet in partnership with GW Discourse: The Political Science Quarterly.

Christopher Wimbush, manager of telecom & broadband advocacy, is the principal editor and chair of the Politics & Technology Review Editorial Board. The board also includes Julie Barko Germany, director of IPDI, Sam Levenback, chief strategist for the 2008 Politics Online Conference, Justin Beckley, manager of IPDI Labs, Alex Kellner, manager of Project Athens, Greg Rosen, editor-in-chief of GW Discourse, and Tim Little, managing editor of GW Discourse. This project would not have been possible without the advice and assistance of many individuals at The George Washington University, including F. Christopher Arterton (Dean, Graduate School of Political Management).

We thank all of our authors: Lowell Feld, Nate Wilcox, Christine B. Williams, Girish J. Gulati, James Valentine, Rodrigo Lugones, David Karpf, Christopher Wimbush, David M. Faris, and Alex Kellner.

IPDI’s mission is to promote the use of the Internet and new communication technologies in politics to enhance democratic values, encourage citizen participation and improve governance, at home and abroad; in short, to “democratize democracy.” IPDI conducts research that anticipates and interprets trends; publishes studies and guidelines that that show candidates, public officials and activists how to make the best use of the new communication tools; and holds seminars and conferences that advocate best practices, teach new skills and allow for the national and international exchange of ideas on the democratizing uses of the Internet and other new technologies.

IPDI is located at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. F. Christopher Arterton is the dean of the school.

For more information about the Graduate School of Political Management, visit www.gwu.edu/~gspm.

For more information about the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet, visit www.ipdi.org.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Christine B. Williams, Professor of Political Science at Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts

She received her M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Indiana University. She currently serves as an Associate Editor and on the senior Editorial Board of the Journal of Information Technology and Politics and on the Meetup Politics & Governance Advisory Council. Dr. Williams’ research area is political communication, with emphasis on new and emerging technologies. Her work, including recent studies co-authored with Jeff Gulati, has appeared in academic journals, trade and professional association publications, as well as news media outlets worldwide.

Girish J. “Jeff” Gulati, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts

He earned in his PhD from the University of Virginia. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Information Technology and Politics. Dr. Gulati’s primary research and teaching interests are political communication & the news media, campaigns & elections, telecommunications policy, and the practice and theories of representation. He has designed studies to assess the effectiveness of higher education programs and policies, election polls, and surveys for non-profits, interest groups and local governments.

Alex Kellner, Manager, eGovernance and Digital Leadership, IPDI

Massachusetts native Alex Kellner joined The Institute of Politics, Democracy & the Internet in September of 2007 as the Project Manager for eGovernance and Digital Leadership. In his time there he has helped create an eGovernment initiative called Project Athens.

He is a currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Political Management from the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University and just recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree of Political Communications from the School of Media and Public Affairs also at GW. In addition to working for IPDI, Alex volunteers for political campaigns and is also a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. In the past, he has also held internships with Gannett’s Corporate Communication’s Department, Rep. James McGovern (D-MA03), The AARP Bulletin and Microsoft, Verizon’s PolicyBlog and was a student editor of the inaugural publication of Euonymous: an E-Anthology of First-Year Writing.

David Karpf, PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

David Karpf is a doctoral candidate in the political science department at the University of Pennsylvania. He is interested in the uses of the Internet for collective action, looking in particular at newly-emerging Internetmediated organizations in the political realm.

David Faris, PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

David Faris is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently completing field research on the relationship between communications technologies and political change in Egypt. He also writes regularly for the Philadelphia Citypaper.

Rodrigo Lugones, Executive Director, Duran Barba & Asociados

Rodrigo Lugones, a 2005 Graduate School of Political Management graduate, is Executive Director of Duran Barba & Asociados, a 30-year-old Latin American company based in Ecuador. Lugones also oversees the company’s operations in Argentina. Exclusively oriented toward the public sector, the company’s areas of expertise focus on long-term strategy, research, design of overall public policy, and communication planning for both governments and political campaigns. Lugones also teaches at several Universities, including Universidad de San Andrés (Argentina), Universidad Católica de Guayaquil (Ecuador) and George Washington University’s Latin American Programs at The Graduate School of Political.

Nate Wilcox, Senior Advisor, WebStrong Group

Nate Wilcox is a political and public affairs consultant with Jerome Armstrong’s WebStrong Group. He is the coauthor of “Netroots Rising” with Lowell Feld. Wilcox has conducted online communications for more than 36 political campaigns in the last ten years including work for Governor Mark Warner and Senator John Kerry.

Christopher Wimbush, Manager of Telecom & Broadband Advocacy, IPDI

Christopher Wimbush is a junior in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at the George Washington University. Chris is majoring in Political Science (Public Policy Focus) and minoring in Psychology. His academic interests focus on media, Internet, and communications policy. In 2006, Chris founded GW Discourse: The Political Science Quarterly, a non-partisan political issues and current events magazine focused on Domestic and International Affairs as well as Political Theory and Philosophy.

In August of 2007, Chris joined the Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet as an undergraduate researcher, serving as the Institute’s point person on technology policy.

James Valentine

James Valentine is currently stationed at U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area, in Alameda, CA. Previous tours include the Coast Guard Intelligence Coordination Center, Coast Guard Headquarters, and the USCG cutter SHERMAN.

He is a 2005 graduate of the Joint Military Intelligence College (now the National Defense Intelligence College), receiving a Master’s Degree in Strategic Intelligence and the Post Graduate Intelligence Program certification. He earned his BS in Government at the US Coast Guard Academy in 1997.

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