Finally, the digital revolution is engaged in redefining the very nature of politics. Two hundred years ago, it may have made sense to elect representatives to go to the far-away capital and participate in the voting that builds consensus and establishes the rules of society. That was then, however, and this is now. Today in the digital nation, consensus making occurs in thousands of overlapping and interconnected communities everywhere on the network simultaneously, and everyone can be engaged. No one voice is more powerful than any other.
Consensus evolves out of the hive mind of fervent discourse instead of from formal votes.
Much has been made of the Net as a dissonance amplifier. Discussion is often direct and emotional. No wonder countries like Singapore and China want to control this medium. Fifty years ago a Jesuit philosopher by the name of Teilhard de Chardin spoke prophetically about changes to come. We are at the birth of a new medium and a new era.