Comments on: Lobbying

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:13:49 +0000

From the Center for American Progress, October 6, 2005:

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund has just released a new study of the most comprehensive database focused on home computer and Internet use, “Are We Really a Nation Online? Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Access to Technology and Their Consequences.” The study was conducted by Dr. Robert Fairlie of the University of California at Santa Cruz. What Dr. Fairlie found was dramatically different than what NTIA reported last November, specifically:

The digital divide is large and does not appear to be disappearing soon. Blacks and Latinos are much less likely to have access to home computers than are white, non-Latinos (50.6 and 48.7 percent compared to 74.6 percent). They are also less likely to have Internet access at home (40.5 and 38.1 percent compared to 67.3 percent).

Slightly more than half of all black and Latino children have access to a home computer and approximately 40 percent have access to the Internet at home (compared to 85.5 and 77.4 percent of white, non-Latino children). Ethnic and racial disparities in home computer and Internet access rates are larger for children than for adults.

Income differences are partly, but not entirely responsible for ethnic and racial disparities in computer and Internet access. Even among individuals with family incomes of at least $60,000, blacks and Latinos are substantially less likely to own a computer or have Internet access at home than are whites.

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 19:57:40 +0000

I see what your saying Amy, but I think the demographic of internet users is much larger than you think. This isn’t to say knocking on doors isn’t useful, but I think there are much better ways to canvas large amounts of people.
if we look at what is happening currently in the age of the internet, we see that internet lobbying can be an extremely powerful tool. Look at what happened for example to Ron Paul last Nov 5th. Through internet donations, this guy, Kevin Lymon (sp?) who had never voted before mind you, organized a one day donation bonanza in which 4.2 million dollars was raised and then donated to Ron Paul. It’s true. I saw it on PBS.
If that amount of money could be raised in one day, just think of what information could be obtained by the same method!

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 02:18:25 +0000

Here’s why this wouldn’t work:
1) Consider the percentage of Americans who vote.
2) Consider the percentage of Americans with regular access to a computer to be used during leisure time.
3) Consider the demographic of that group.

Now, consider the job of a lobbyist. That person’s job is to bring an alternative viewpoint to a legislator OR to encourage others’ to do so. I, for example, have been a registered lobbyist. When that was the case, what I was doing was collecting petition signatures in favor of a rail tax proposal.

ALAS! It’s the perfect example! I didn’t talk to a single legislator the entire time. What I did was go door to door and ask people if they thought they should vote on this tax proposal. If they did, they signed the petition. It would only go on the ballot if it received signatures from, say, 5 percent of the population of that town.

So…What you’re actually talking about is online voting. You, Curtis, live in California–a state FAMOUS for taking initiatives to the voters (even if they’re illegal or unconstitutional). The process of getting each of these initiatives on the ballot is exactly what you’re talking about. You go, boy. Get away from that computer and start knocking on your neighbors’ doors.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:31:56 +0000

Yeah, I’d totally be down to build something like this but I feel like it needs some sort of cooperation with the government to make sure that people’s voices are heard. Have any ideas about how that could be accomplished?

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:50:24 +0000

I love this idea – some sort of web forum where anyone with a computer could post a desire or concern to the powers that be. Perhaps a given cause wouldn’t show up as “popular” until it received 10,000 supporters or something.
There could be a ticker tape listing the most popular concerns or needs of ‘the people.’ If lobbyists wanted to keep plying in the governmental sand box, they could help the causes of the popular needs of the people by spreading the word.

Great idea.