The Politics of Citizen Access Technology |
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| Authors: | K. Kendall Guthrie William H. Dutton |
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| Affiliation: | William H. Dutton;is professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Public Administration at the University of Southern California. He received his doctorate in political science from SUNY at Buffalo in 1974. His research focuses on the political aspects of communication and information technology. In addition to his continuing study of PEN, he is conducting cross-national research on communications policy in Britain. France and Japan, using the approach of an ecology of games. K. Kendall Guthrie;is a policy and management analyst with the New York City Department of Telecommunications and Energy, where she is developing projects using telecommunications technology to improve government productivity and service delivery. She received her Ph.D. from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in 1991. Her research interests include telecommunications policy and the political aspects of communication and information technology. |
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| Abstract: | This article uses comparative case studies to examine the political shaping of public Information utilities developed by American local governments. These public access computer networks are designed lo facilitate access to community information and dialogue. We view technology design as analogous to developing public policy on citizen participation, where the "legislation" is imbedded in the technological design. Research sites included three adopter cities, Santa Monica, Pasadena, and Glendale, California, and one nonadopter city, Irvine. This comparison highlights key technology-policy choices (including the choice of not developing this application). Our analysis then examines the role of technological paradigms, local political cultures, and organizational arrangements in shaping municipal approaches to addressing these key policy choices. |
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