Sunstein I: Citizens, Consumers, Democracy and Regulation

As a preface to today's discussion of republic.com, we'll share answers to two questions:

• In what successful democratic institutions/organizations have you participated, and why do you think they were successful?
• When was the last time you sought out "alternative" sources of news or opinion, and how/why did you do so?

Although the statement "All Politics is Local" has become somewhat of a cliche, one can make a very strong argument that, even in this digital age, effective political action is most often rooted in the particular concerns of particular constituencies. Traditionally, this has meant "local" constituencies. In the essay from which I quoted in my question to Andrei Cherny ("What Makes Democracy Work?, National Civic Review, 82 Spring 1993, pps. 101-107), Robert Putnam writes: "Investments in our nation's portfolio of social capital must occur at the local level."

On the other hand, a technology like the Internet, that facilitates personal communication and empowerment, would seem to offer great opportunities for improving both the quantity and quality of political participation by citizens in government, even though the technology makes "local" participation more an option than a necessity.

Next week is Election Day, and the major elections are in fact local (rather than national). Reflecting on Cherny's views, Sunstein's views, and your own degree of political participation, do you think that the institutions of political representation currently in place in the US can make revolutionary use of information technologies, and if so how might our institutions change to accomodate such use? Similarly, do you imagine the slogan "All politics is local" will seem antiquated in 50 years?

Cass Sunsetin's republic.com

We'll continue our discussion of Sunsetin's book, beginning with a presentation of chapter 2: "An Analogy and An Ideal." We'll consider chapters 4-9 in batch, and here are some questions we might address:

• Sunstein talks about the value of shared experiences, and last time we struggled to figure out whether we had any(!). At Brown, of course, comparatively little value is placed on imposing shared experiences, but can a democracy be well-functioning with so little imposition?
• Sunstein argues that equating the successful citizen with the successful consumer is a bad idea for democracy. What is his argument and do you agree with it?
• What are examples of "government regulations" you think justified and unjustified? Do you agree with Sunstein's point about there not being a non-regulated option for the Internet?
• What is Sunstein's defense of the view that "free speech is not absolute," and how do his views on free speech compare with your own?
• Which of the (6) "reform possibilities" discussed in chapter 8 do you think useful/practical/desirable?
• In the "Afterword", written for the paperback edition, Sunstein says that a central inspiration for republic.com was Jane Jacobs' 1961 classic, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which among other things pointed to and celebrated the function, diversity and vitality of public urban spaces. To what extent is the City (rather than the Village) your model of a well-functioning democracy?

From Digital Democracy to Computer Ethics

Time permitting I'll make a rather contrived effort to motivate the transition to Part Three of the course.

For Monday:: Read Part II, Section 3, of Spinello's Case Studies in Information and Computer Ethics.

Back to the Syllabus