Government,corporate or social power? The internet as a tool in the struggle for dominance in public policy

This paper sets out to demonstrate to corporations the need to monitor closely and to respond genuinely to public opinion. It predicts a rise in the power of citizens and a government response to that power that will include regulation to protect social and environmental interests. The paper gives an overview of the ways in which the economic sector, embodied in corporations, has risen to and maintained a position of dominance both within nation states and globally. It provides a model that illustrates the power relationship between corporations, governments and the public, noting in particular that the fundamental key to corporate dominance is the positioning of the public as consumers. Using the framework of legitimation, the paper then demonstrates and theorises the rise of opposition to the dominant order and the corporate and government responses to such opposition. It is proposed that these responses may be insufficient to maintain corporate dominance and that a new model is likely to gain ascendance. In this new model the public make a shift from consumers to citizens in order to reassert their role in governance. Internet sites of activist groups are examined in order to determine the ways in which the sites are used as a tool to facilitate a shift towards the second model. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications