Michael Hauben The Political Theories of Paine and Rousseau Applied To Usenet News I. History and Definition of the Project A) Definition of the Project I have long been interested in participating in the use of computers to facilitate communication and discussions. Usenet News is a currently developing worldwide conferencing system. My project will analyze the democratic impact of the marriage of computers and telecommunications by applying the theories of democracy of Thomas Paine and Jean Jacques-Rousseau to Usenet News. In particular I will study Paine's "Common Sense" and "The Rights of Man" and Rousseau's "The Social Contract." I will compare the approaches to democracy in these works with the current interactive participation that is exemplified by Usenet News. Computer communications currently represents a little studied and under-used resource. Hopefully in the future there will be greater utilization. To study Usenet News, I will use the Usenet News History Archives accumulated by Bruce Jones, and two secondary texts, "Technologies Without Boundaries" by Ithiel de Sola Pool and "The Information Technologies and East European Societies" by Gary L. Geipel, A. Tomasz Jarmoszko, and Seymour E. Goodman, analyzing the development and importance of computerized communications. By this research, I hope to answer the question whether the present telecommunications revolution is a democratic development in the tradition of Paine and Rousseau. B) History of the Project On the subject of computers and democracy, I wrote a paper last year, entitled "The Computer as a Democratizer". That paper compared James Mill's theory of a free press in "Liberty of the Press" to the contemporary possible free press in today's Usenet News. "The Computer as a Democratizer" represents a basis for the further research into the theory of democracy, and how today's computer communications technologies represent a new manifestation of these theories. My project represents the next step in my analysis of the telecommunications revolution and democracy. I am on the trail of the effect on society of computers, or basically how the advances in technology are contributing to our society. This project will allow me to produce an intellectual second step in this process. My paper on Mill and Democracy represented a glimpse into this field, and this project will allow me to make a second step into this study. It will ground me in the theory of democracy and help further my intellectual development. II Work Plan, Methodology, and Schedule I will carefully study three pertinent works on democracy by Thomas Paine ("Common Sense" and "The Rights of Man") and Jean-Jacques Rousseau ("The Social Contract"). For the contemporary Usenet News, I plan to make reference to on-line reference sources - the Usenet News History Archive via anonymous FTP. I will utilize the great connectivity afforded me by the computer communications network. Usenet News provides a body of people with whom I will interact in order to learn more of how Usenet News is facilitating democracy. Methodology: I plan to carefully read through my primary sources and make a set of organized notes. I will connect to Usenet News in order to post the questions and thoughts from my study. In this way I will research and explore the democratic activity computer communication is making possible. I will meet with my advisor on a weekly basis in order to report on the status of my research and also to discuss my reading and study with him. I am able to access Usenet News and other resources on the Internet from my home. Schedule: Initial Steps: Consultation and Planning with Advisor and initial survey of Net in order to determine where I will post the progress of my research. Weeks 1-3: I will read the works of Paine and Rousseau and concentrate on isolating and clarifying their views of democracy. I will post my questions and thoughts about my reading. I will also meet with my advisor to discuss my reading. Weeks 4-5: I will read and take notes from my two secondary sources. I will review the material in the Usenet News archives to gather notes about Usenet News and democracy. I will continue monitoring responses to my posts. I will summarize my research and the responses I've gotten for my advisor. Week 6: I will connect the theories of democracy that I have been studying with the history and contemporary practice of Usenet News. I will include feedback from others on the Net. Week 7: I will write the initial draft of my paper in consultation with my advisor. Week 8: I will present my first draft to the Net and to my advisor. I will collect responses to my paper and begin my final draft. Week 9: I will write my final draft, and present it on the Net and to my Advisor. STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATION: My interest in computers began when I was 8 years old. At that time, I was just learning about how to use and program computers. In time, my interest developed into a much broader prospective. As I have grown up, I have been lucky to be able to experience the development of the personal computer. Currently I wish to study the impact of computers on society and on the life of the common person. I was born May 1, 1973. By this summer, I will have completed my sophomore year of undergraduate education at Columbia College of Columbia University in New York City. I plan to graduate in June of 1995. At Columbia College, I have taken several courses that have provided me with a background for this project. In my first year I took a year-long class, Contemporary Civilization, which presented the theory of democracy in conjunction with the development of Western political thought. In this class I read parts of Paine's "The Rights of Man" and Rousseau's "Social Contract." In addition, last year I took a class in "Contemporary Eastern European Fiction and Film." The works I studied in this class provided an understanding of the democracy that was being striven for by the dissidents and people of Eastern Europe. This semester I am taking a course in "Computers and Society." We have talked about the possible role of computers in the political process of democracy, both how it could theoretically fit into the process of democracy and practically what the role computers might play in election mechanics. In high school, I wrote a paper dealing with computers and free speech, and have been involved with computer bulletin board systems, both as a participant, and with managing a computer conference by helping to initiate discussions and managing and keeping a message area active and valuable. Bibliography Primary Sources 1. Paine, Thomas, "Common Sense" in "The Complete Works of Thomas Paine" Vol 2, The Freethought Press Association, New York, 1954 This will be a helpful text because it presents reasons why it was necessary for the American Colonialists to split from England. It will be interesting to apply Paine's contribution to the beginnings of American Democracy to current developments in telecommunications. 2. Paine, Thomas, "The Rights of Man" in "The Complete Works of Thomas Paine" Vol 2, The Freethought Press Association, New York, 1954 "The Rights of Man" presents an interesting defense of the egalitarian principles behind the French Revolution. 3. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, "The Social Contract and Discourse on the Origin of Inequality." Ed. Leslie G. Crocker. Washington Square Press, New York, 1967 Rousseau writes about the importance of the participation and debate of the citizens of a state for there to be good government. 4. Usenet News History FTP Archive, weber@ucsd.edu Material there will speak to the question of the original purpose of Usenet News. Secondary Sources 1. Pool, Ithiel de Sola, "Technologies without Boundaries.", ed. Eli Noam, Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1990 Pool writes of the marriage of computers with communications to create "the largest machine man has ever constructed." 2. Gary L. Geipel, A. Tomasz Jarmoszko, and Seymour E. Goodman, "The Information Technologies and East European Societies" in "East European Politics and Society", Vol.5 No.3 (Fall 1991), University of California Press This journal article analyzes the link between technology and democratic change. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Nov 1992