Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide (Communication, Society and Politics) - Hardcover

Norris, Pippa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521807514 ISBN 13: 9780521807517

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2001

Synopsis

There is widespread concern that the growth of the Internet is exacerbating inequalities between the information rich and poor. Digital Divide examines access and use of the Internet in 179 nations world-wide. A global divide is evident between industrialized and developing societies. A social divide is apparent between rich and poor within each nation. Within the online community, evidence for a democratic divide is emerging between those who do and do not use Internet resources to engage and participate in public life. Part I outlines the theoretical debate between cyber-optimists who see the Internet as the great leveler. Part II examines the virtual political system and the way that representative institutions have responded to new opportunities on the Internet. Part III analyzes how the public has responded to these opportunities in Europe and the United States and develops the civic engagement model to explain patterns of participation via the Internet.

About this title

Review:

'Norris's worldwide comparison of 179 countries' national and political context of Internet access and use is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the problem of the digital divide because it blends together the economic aspect with socioeconomic and democratic development with a systematic framework.' Prometheus

Book Description:

There is widespread concern that the explosive growth of the Internet is exacerbating existing inequalities between the information rich and poor. Digital Divide sets out to examine the evidence for access and use of the Internet in 179 nations across the world.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0521807514
• ISBN 13: 9780521807517
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320