Electronic "Town Meetings": Two Experiments in Participatory Technology

Two experimental "electronic town hall" meetings were carried out to test the potential of cable television technology as a means of expanding democratic participation, particularly in populous, impersonal urban settings. On the basis of a statistical analysis of questionnaire responses, participants perceived the electronic town meetings as being, overall, highly enjoyable, an effective means of making a group decision, convenient to attend, and readily accessible to expression of individual views. Although the element of face-to-face interaction as well as the greater spontaneity of the "in-person" meeting were missed by many, these factors were not seen as serious drawbacks by most and, on a number of other evaluative dimensions including overall judgment, the electronic format was accorded preference over the face-to-face meeting by a majority of participants.