64 million adults in the US use the internet regularly and the US has the fastest growing number of Internet users.(source)

With an increasing number of bloggers, political boards, and adults using the internet -- I stumbled across this web page at Harvard that raises some interesting questions.

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2k4/schedule#fri

Did the internet play a key role in the outcome of any aspect of this election year – local, state, Congressional, Presidential – or was it just another bubble?

Did new actors come out to vote?

And how, if at all, will the way this year’s leaders were elected change the way our leaders govern?

Presume that new participants have gotten involved in the political process, and that longtime political activists are now further empowered to communicate with leaders in power. After election day, can ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) help those elected to govern better?

Edited to add :

Internet plays major role in South Korea election

Did the internet play a key role in the outcome of any aspect of this election year – local, state, Congressional, Presidential – or was it just another bubble?

Sure, the bloggers played a part. They, in fact, brought down Dan Rather. What is unclear is just how much influence the internet had. It’s difficult to measure the impact of the internet in competition with TV ads, this year’s bumper crop of political books, the debates, network news, cable news, radio talk shows, movies like Fahrenheit 9/11, newspapers, personal appearances by the candidates, etc.