“The coming revolution in campaign communication”

Nate Persily in the SacBee:

With the shift of campaign communication to the Internet, new policies and practices will need to be developed. This transition provides an opportunity for reforms that might address many of the well-known pathologies of campaign financing, such as undisclosed spending, as well as dangers that a few firms could have disproportionate power over campaign-related speech.

As with all things Internet-related, predictions of utopia and dystopia abound. Perhaps the inexpensiveness of online campaign communication will open up a marketplace of ideas to a broader range of voices that could not get their message out when television dominated. Or perhaps the online cacophony will actually increase the price of getting one’s message to the right people, especially if just a few portals provide the necessary infrastructure to capture and target an increasingly inattentive audience.

Making the right policy decisions now, during this period of fundamental transformation, will determine which future is in store for American political campaigns.

Share this: