Sample Final Exam Questions: Electronic Democracy
Professor: Peter M Shane

This exam consists of three questions, weighted as indicated. You must answer each of the three questions.

In preparing your answers, you are to work entirely on your own. That is, after you look at the questions and before you turn them in, you should not discuss with anyone the issues raised by these questions. You should not talk to other members of the class about anything in the course curriculum. You should not submit your paper for anyone else’s preliminary review, whether for substance, style, or anything else.

Your total writing for all three answers must not exceed 1800 words. This is the equivalent of 6 pages of double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point type with 1 inch margins all around. You should submit your answers to me as a word processing file saved to "rich text format". Do NOT submit your final responses as an MSWord document or as an Adobe .pdf file.

Please do NOT include your name in the text of the file you are submitting that contains your exam answers, and do NOT refer to any aspect of your biography that would make it obvious to me who you are. My intention is to grade the answers "blind," and then go back and match each answer with the e-mail to which it was attached.

If you quote or reproduce any language from any source other than your own original work, you must provide a citation to where that material can be found in its original form.

Should any questions arise about any aspect of this exam, please direct them to me by email. If a question is asked of general applicability, I will forward the question and my reply to all members of the class.

I must receive your answers no later than 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 9, 2003.


Questions

Briefly describe three normative models of how democracy is supposed to produce legitimate government decision making and give examples of the kinds of on-line practice that could strengthen each version. Which model do you think is likely to elicit the largest number of online initiatives in the United States over the next 5-10 years, and why? (30 per cent)

Briefly compare and contrast the four models of structured dialogue we have discussed in class -- the Minnesota E-Democracy model, the Weblab model, the Deliberative Polling model, and the citizen jury model. In terms of meeting the ideals of democratic discourse advocated by Habermas and Cohen, which of these models would be most important to create on-line? Discuss what you consider to be the most difficult challenges for implementing an effective online e-democracy initiative along the lines you recommend, and what strategies might be helpful in meeting those challenges. (40 per cent)

The phrase “digital divide” is a shorthand term that has been used to describe a variety of disparities among actual or potential users of the Internet that could affect, among other things, the capacity of e-democracy initiatives to revitalize American democracy in any significant way. Identify some of the different meanings of "digital divide" that could have implications for the future of electronic democracy, and reasons why, in your best judgment, each version of the "digital divide" might or might not be a significant problem for the future of electronic democracy. (30 per cent)