Has the internet made great strides in democratizing politics?  Dan Herman forwarded me a link to this new book, The Myth of Digital Democracy, which deals with a topic that we had recently been discussing.  Although Web 2.0 tools have the potential to improve democracy and reach out to more citizens, they’re just as likely to serve as dividers between the haves and have-nots.

This reminded me of an article from the Washington Post that appeared last week, “Well Connected Parents Take on School Boards”.   Parents are now using social networking, email blitzes, partnerships with business groups and data access to fight for a wide range of changes.  The battles they fight cover a broad spectrum of issues, such as pushing back school start times or redrawing district boundaries. In atleast one case, parents have even used the web to force changes on grading schemes (lowering the bar for an ‘A’ from a 94 to a 90, in percentages).

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