Deliberative Democracy and the Internet

Event Details

At a time when public officials, interest groups, civic associations, and corporations are seeking to strengthen ties with the public online, what role does the internet play in enhancing or diminishing self-government? This public panel, the plenary session for the Humanities and Technology Association Annual Conference, was moderated by Assistant Director for Academic Programs SIDNEY M. MILKIS and featured U.Va. Media Studies Professors JENNIFER PETERSEN and SIVA VAIDHYANATHAN. The featured speaker was internationally renowned scholar JAMES S. FISHKIN, the Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication and Director of the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University. His new book is When the People Speak: Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation (Oxford University Press, 2009).

This year’s Humanities and Technology Association Annual Conference, titled “Technology, Democracy and Citizenship,” was sponsored by the U.Va. Engineering School’s Department of Science, Technology, and Society.