Information Technology and Participatory Democracy: Some Considerations

Please read the following in light of the following biographical context: I was one of the several dozen students who met together at Port Huron, Michigan in June 1962 to found the Students for a Democratic Society and draft the Port Huron Statement. That experience marked me for life. For me, the phrase ‘participatory democracy’, despite its awkwardness, encapsulates what’s essential for defining the good society and for criticizing established institutions and practices, and for formulating a political agenda. And my goal as a teacher for these 43 years has been to inspire students with that vision and help empower them to fulfill it as social actors. What follows is a set of reflections (not fully developed) on the prospects for democracy in a society in which members acquire and produce knowledge and culture through the new information media.