The Internet as a Means of Political Communication

Introduction
Background - Politics on the Internet
Description of the Reform Party Site
Analyzing Web Site Usage
The Reform Party Site: Patterns and Analysis
Aggregate Analysis
Pattern Over Time
Page and Section Analysis
Comparisons Over Time
Issues Information
State-By-State Information
Press Releases
The Future of Electronic Democracy
Conclusions
Table of Contents

Background - Politics on the Internet
In 1996, all major presidential candidates had extensive web sites containing, among other things, their positions on key issues. The Reform Party, DNC and RNC also maintained their own, independent sites, with platform statements and information about many of their candidates. Most minor candidates had web sites as well, as did state and local candidates in many parts of the country.
The candidate sites provided a chance for voters to see what the candidates themselves were saying about the issues and their stands on the issues, rather than the watered-down sound clips provided through the filter of the traditional media. Position papers and fact sheets addressing a number of issues were available from the Clinton, Dole and Perot campaign sites. While the information provided on candidate sites was by no means objective or impartial, users were able to compare what the different candidates were saying, and base their decisions on this information, rather than on a thin, media-spun interpretation of the candidates' positions, which might appear in a ten-second sound bite on the evening news. Information at the sites generally echoed the candidates' stump speech material, the substance of which is left unreported by the traditional media.
Each of these individual candidate and political party sites attempts to provide a base of information about policy issues, the candidate's positions or the party's platform, and news about the campaign. They are designed to put a spin on the information presented. Since the specific goal of these sites is to get the candidates elected, such sites are always partisan and often downright dirty, especially in the case of the party sites. As traditional coordinated advertising by the parties has become almost entirely negative, their web sites have picked up negative features as well. The Democratic Party site, for example, has a section devoted to bashing Newt Gingrich,¹ while the RNC site hosts a similar "Clinton Corner" feature.² The Reform Party, which specifically rejects negative advertising, is a notable exception on this point. The party sites also provide useful information, including party rules and contact information, as well as the platforms and information about the parties' activities.

General Usage

The Internet community on the whole is slightly more politically active than is the electorate at large. Internet users are both more likely to be registered voters and to have voted in their last local, state, or national elections. About 64 percent of Internet users reported voting in the most recent national election, whereas overall voter turnout fell to under 50 percent in the 1996 presidential elections. A full 51 percent of on-line users vote in every election, a feat accomplished by only 42 percent of the general public.³ Internet users also showed a higher overall rate of voter registration, with about 85 percent of users registered to vote. The trends can be explained partially by the general demographics of the Internet. Users tend to be more educated, including a large number of students, professors and computer industry professionals, and the technology is more readily available to the wealthy. Individuals making more than $50,000 a year comprise 43 percent of the Internet community. Among the general electorate, these more educated and affluent groups are generally more politically active than less educated, poorer groups, so it is no surprise that the Internet has inherited their spirit of political activity. Forty-five percent of users report having a "fair amount" of interest in politics, and 24 percent care about it "a great deal."⁴
Beyond registration and voting patterns, Internet users seem to keep pace with current political news and information. In October, 1996, during the heat of the presidential general election, 83 percent of Internet users reported spending at least 15 minutes a day gathering political information, and the largest segment, 29.9 percent, reported spending between half an hour and an hour per day on political information These figures reflect the time spent by Internet users on political information provided by all media, including television, radio, print media and on-line sources.
Many users report feeling more connected with political issues since coming on-line. Forty-six percent said that they felt equally involved, while 45 percent indicated that since they started using the Internet, the felt more involved and connected with political issues. Only 1.4 percent of users felt less involved since coming on-line.⁵ This indicates that the Internet is having some impact on how Americans position themselves in the political sphere..
While users' responses to political use of the Internet during the 1996 election were not staggering, they did show a movement toward the use of on-line information. Because the 1996 election cycle is marked by the advent of widespread political information use on the Internet, there is no data available for comparison to previous elections. However, as general usage of the Internet continues to increase, pulling users away from other mediums, political coverage is likely to, at the very least, keep pace with this growth.
Candidates' and parties' web sites fell on the low end of the usage spectrum as sources of political information in 1996. Only seven percent of on-line voters visited either the Clinton/Gore or Dole/Kemp sites.⁶ Based on this low use of candidate, party and federal government sites, it appears that most Internet users are not making an effort to seek out primary-source information about the government, nor are they using the available resources to learn what the candidates themselves have to say about the issues. In fact, 66 percent of on-line voters did not visit web sites that provided information about specific issues.⁷ Instead, users are flocking to the sites run by the established traditional media. Coverage provided by the general news and information sites is predictable, familiar territory for most users. Information provided by recognized news organizations can also be viewed as more reliable than many other sources, although 56 percent of users believe that new and current-events information on the Internet is more accurate than that in daily newspapers and on the network news.⁸ Additionally, 53 percent of those who read on-line political news do so because the traditional media does not provide enough information.

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