The new technology will make possible new ways to publicly finance elections. Instead of money going to candidates, money could be given directly to the voters. Instead of tens of millions of dollars in communication vouchers being given to presidential candidates to spend on 30-second television ads, money could be given directly to citizens to spend on information about political candidates. Such voter-based vouchers are far more democratic than candidate-based vouchers but have never been more practical before … A special class of information agent – the electoral agent – could be given special treatment much like nonprofit organizations, which receive privileges such as tax exemptions and reduced postal rates. As with nonprofits, electoral agents could provide a public good that would otherwise be underproduced.
Predictor: Snider, James
Prediction, in context:The 1995 book “The Information Revolution,” edited by Donald Altschiller, carries a reprint of the 1994, The Futurist article “Democracy On-line” by James H. Snider. Snider speculates on the electronic town meeting, a possibility in the near future. He writes: ”The new technology will make possible new ways to publicly finance elections. Instead of money going to candidates, money could be given directly to the voters. Instead of tens of millions of dollars in communication vouchers being given to presidential candidates to spend on 30-second television ads, money could be given directly to citizens to spend on information about political candidates. Such voter-based vouchers are far more democratic than candidate-based vouchers but have never been more practical before … A special class of information agent – the electoral agent – could be given special treatment much like nonprofit organizations, which receive privileges such as tax exemptions and reduced postal rates. As with nonprofits, electoral agents could provide a public good that would otherwise be underproduced. If mass-media advertising becomes obsolete and thus no longer able to subsidize ‘free TV’ or cheap newspapers (the traditional media for election information), then the need for electoral agents could become even more acute than it is today. The obligations for electoral agents could include: (1) No funding from candidates or candidate proxies (that is, no financial conflicts of interest), (2) a complete public record and or contract with candidates or their proxies (for example, a video if a personal contact and electronic letter if text-based contact), (3) agent computer systems that facilitate candidate rebuttals of any agent assertion (the candidate could ask for a ‘rebuttal button’ to appear on the screen when the challenge assertion appears), and finally (4) information structured to help voters make decisions between candidates (for example, a news format would not qualify).”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Global Relationships/Politics
Subtopic: Campaigns/Voting
Name of publication: The Information Revolution (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Democracy On-line
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 191
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne