Digital Citizenship ─ The Internet, Society, and Participation

Just as education has promoted democracy and economic growth, the Internet has thepotential to benefit society as a whole. Digital citizenship, or the ability to participate insociety online, promotes social inclusion. But statistics show that significant segments of thepopulation are still excluded from digital citizenship. The authors of this book define digitalcitizens as those who are online daily. By focusing on frequent use, they reconceptualize debatesabout the digital divide to include both the means and the skills to participate online. They offernew evidence (drawn from recent national opinion surveys and Current Population Surveys) thattechnology use matters for wages and income, and for civic engagement and voting. DigitalCitizenship examines three aspects of participation in society online: economic opportunity,democratic participation, and inclusion in prevailing forms of communication. The authors find thatInternet use at work increases wages, with less-educated and minority workers receiving the greatestbenefit, and that Internet use is significantly related to political participation, especially amongthe young. The authors examine in detail the gaps in technological access among minorities and thepoor and predict that this digital inequality is not likely to disappear in the near future. Publicpolicy, they argue, must address educational and technological disparities if we are to achieve fullparticipation and citizenship in the twenty-first century. Karen Mossberger is Associate Professorin the Graduate Program in Public Administration, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs,University of Illinois at Chicago. Caroline J. Tolbert is Associate Professor in the Department ofPolitical Science at the University of Iowa. She and Karen Mossberger are coauthors (with MaryStansbury) of Virtual Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide. Ramona S. McNeal is Visiting AssistantProfessor in the Political Studies Department at the University of Illinois atSpringfield.

Ramona S. McNeal is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Political Studies Department at the University of Illinois at Springfield.