Agenda for Today

1. Agenda for Today Review and discuss article by Bonchek how the Net affects interest groups how to identify the causal argument in a reading return quotation analyses course changes midterm evaluation

2. Transaction costs “The costs other than the money price that are incurred in trading goods or services.” including: Search and information costs Bargaining and decision costs Policing and enforcement costs

3. Bonchek: Introduction What effect do computer networks have on grassroots political activity? Does computer-mediated communication (CMC) facilitate collective action? Why have so many organizations and individuals taken to computer networks as a medium for political communication? “The argument presented is that CMC facilitates collective action by reducing transaction costs related to group organization.”

4. 2. Transaction Costs Transaction Costs and Collective Action 2.1 Economics 2.2 Politics 2.3 Collective Action political action vs “common pool resource problems” 2.4 Organizational Costs

5. Organizational Costs Transaction Costs and Collective Action 2.4 Organizational Costs Communications costs Coordination costs Collaborating Reaching a decision Planning Information Costs Search Retrieval Interpretation

6. Collective Action 3. Do Transaction Costs Reduce Collective Action? 3.1 Group Formation 3.2 Group Efficiency 3.3 Member Recruitment 3.4 Member Retention

7. Impact of CMC Does CMC Reduce Transaction Costs? 4.1 Properties 4.2 Speed and Cost 4.3 Asynchronous Communication 4.4 Many-to-Many Communication 4.5 Intelligent Communication 4.6 Impact on Transaction Costs

8. Case Studies 5.1 Chinese Students: IFSCSS 5.2 Community Networking: PEN 5.3 Smoking Policy: SCARCNet 5.4 Online Government Access: Jim Warren 5.5 Institute for Global Communications 5.6 White Supremacist and Neo-Nazi Movements 5.7 Information Infrastructure: TPR and CPSR

9. Analysis of Case Studies some groups will benefit more from CMC than others groups that benefit most: broad geographic distribution of members large volume of intraorganizational communication high value placed on info as selective benefit poor access to mainstream media

10. Bonchek: Conclusion to take advantage of CMC must: have access to computers have computer skills be on a computer network Groups with natural affinity for computers are in the best position Computer access as a political resource

11. Bonchek: Argument Hypothesis Independent variable Dependent variable Observable implications Causal relationship Research method Unit of Analysis Cases

12. Bonchek: Issues Dependent variable Case selection Other side of the equation: benefits Following the argument to its conclusion

13. Quotation Analysis NOT GRADED -- all that matters was that you submitted the assignment For your benefit: √+: successfully explained quotation AND overall argument √ : successfully explained quotation only √ : misinterpreted the quotation itself

14. Course changes Discussion board participation no longer required. Participation will still be considered. For Thursday…no Poblocki.

15. Discussion