With the Congressional backslide on its contemplated piracy legislation, something rare, perhaps even unprecedented, happened within the last few weeks: The people beat the lobbyists. While every once in a while, the people are able to get their voices heard over the din of the ever present lobbyists, what’s unprecedented was how they did it. And how they did it may forever change the way our democracy works.
When our constitutional government was formed, the founders knew that it was impractical for every person’s voice to be heard on everything. We had too many people spread over too much land. The best that we could do was to build a representative democracy, where the people had a voice in who would represent them in their government, and those elected would have the voice in how government works. One of the consequences of this representative democracy was the emergence of lobbyists who, using political connections and money, could influence the voting behavior of the representatives to preserve the special interests of their clients. Most times these clients were professional and trade associations with fairly “deep pockets.”
The growing influence of lobbyists has become a concern for many voters, even to the point where these citizens feel that their power at the ballot box pales in comparison to the lobbyists’ power of the purse. However, recent events may have lifted the spirits of these citizens because they may have suddenly and decisively found their voice. Despite traditional media’s massive $91 million spending on lobbying efforts through the 2011 third quarter, they were no match for significantly lower-funded lobbying efforts of the new media. That’s because the social media were able to unite the voices of the people into a chorus of protest that simply could not be ignored. Those who were in charge bowed quickly to those who were connected.
With the sudden and rapid emergence of our new Wiki World, we find ourselves thrust into a completely new world with a completely new set of rules, and one of those new rules is that the power to be connected now trumps the power to be in charge. Those who insist on holding onto traditional notions of power better take notice because the people have been able to accomplish what those who are in charge have not, and that is to forge common ground among both Democrats and Republicans in getting their representatives to appreciate their concerns.
As the people gain more experience in exercising their voice through the unprecedented options provided by the new media, we are likely to see a dramatic change in the fabric of our democracy. The Digital Revolution has given us the technology where it is now practical to bring everybody together in the same virtual space at the same time. This means that it is no longer just well funded lobbyists who get to roam the halls of Congress. These traditional power brokers now have to contend with a new breed of well-connected players whose sheer numbers can quickly neutralize the lobbyists money. Welcome to democracy in the 21st century!
