Political participation under surveillance

The USA Patriot Act gives the government “vast new powers to conduct electronic surveillance over the Internet” (Kerr, 2003, p.607). When citizens perceive that their Internet activity is under surveillance, one negative consequence of this may well be a decline in citizens’ political participation through the Internet. This point has serious implications for the ongoing debate about whether the Internet will become a means of social control or of citizen empowerment. Here is our point.

Let’s first think about why people participate in politics. Political scientists point out various factors, such as socioeconomic and psychological reasons (Krueger, 2005). But one thing is obvious: citizens participate because at least they have a means of participation. Here the Internet’s importance nowadays needs to be considered. The Internet has become a mainstream avenue for political participation in the US. The Center for Survey Research and Analysis reports, “More than 60% of the US adult population now connects to the Internet. Of those who do connect, two thirds engage in some type of online political activity” (Krueger, 2005, p.440). In addition, given that the types of communication technology affect the features of political organizations and activities (Bimber, 2003), citizens’ growing use of the Internet as a means of political participation suggests what the future of American politics will be like. However, this important field of citizens’ political activity – the Internet – is under surveillance. Politically active citizens on the Internet are aware that their e-mail transmissions can be intercepted and their web surfing can be monitored, all without necessarily being informed by the surveillers. Several serious questions are raised here. Will this stifle citizens’ online political activities? Or is there no correlation between governments’ surveillance of the Internet and citizens’ online political activities? Or, instead, will the governments’ surveillance of the Internet increase citizens’ political activities on the Internet? We can find partial answers in an empirical research study conducted by Krueger with regard to this point. According to that study: 1) among those who disagree with dominant political opinion, perceptions that the government monitors citizens’ Internet activity results in higher levels of Internet political activity, and 2) the political activity levels of citizens who agree with dominant opinion is not affected by perceived surveillance (Krueger, 2005). In other words, surveillance produces resistance, in the form of more active political participation, from citizens who oppose the regime. This study doesn’t say everything about the question of government surveillance and political participation. We should at least thematize the aforementioned point, in order to preserve the value of political participation in the midst of the looming power of electronic surveillance.