Taking Our Country Back: The Crafting of Networked Politics From Howard Dean to Barack Obama. By Daniel Kreiss. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. 230 pp.

Taking Our Country Back: The Crafting of Networked Politics From Howard Dean to Barack Obama. By Daniel Kreiss. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. 230 pp. Daniel Kreiss's new book aims to trace how political personnel, organizations, and technologies intertwine and inform one another, providing a compelling behind-the-screen view of the infrastructure development and "myth-defying backstage that consumes much of the working lives of those active in politics" (p. 15). To do so, it draws from more than 60 interviews with Internet new media staffers, consultants, and volunteers; from the accounts of additional campaign staff, practitioners, and volunteers; and from Kreiss's own participant observation as an Obama campaign volunteer. The book's meticulous tracking of various technologies, firms, and staffers' careers contextualizes how the successful 2008 Obama campaign stood on the virtual shoulders of the 2004 Dean campaign. Ultimately, Kreiss's findings fill a gap in extant research by exploring the interrelationship of new media and politics through a lens primarily focused on those two campaigns. The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter One lays the foundation for the book's purposes and contributions, the phenomena under study, and the methods used to study them. Here, the book develops a synergistic view of innovation, infrastructure, and organization to explain the contemporary landscape of "networked politics" referenced in the title. Kreiss defines the term as the "sustained and coordinated collective action that occurs outside of direct managerial relationships and [that] is premised on the voluntary contributions of supporters" (p. 6). Networked politics thus encompasses electoral activities enabled by computer networked technology and also refers to a way to organize and mobilize electoral participation. Chapter Two explores the political and organizational climate leading up to Dean's Internet successes. It provides background on tools individual supporters were using such as Meetup and political blogs. The chapter specifically shows how the Dean Internet team harnessed these tools and linked them to goals and strategies. Kreiss usefully points out that the team's experimentation was strengthened by MoveOn staff guidance. By the end of the chapter, Dean has gained significant press attention for his campaign's successful use of new and existing electronic tools and its ability to translate those accomplishments into impressive fundraising. In Chapter Three, "Dean's Demise and Taking on Bush" (p. 61), Kreiss tracks how the campaign's new and expanded tools gave supporters ways to help the campaign such as through coordination of online personal fund-raising, social networking, and letter writing. The campaign maintained an open source, informal culture that sought to harness enthusiasm and energy rather than dictate participation. Despite these efforts, the candidate's meteoric rise ended due to infrastructure challenges, a series of high-profile gaffes, and a field program that did not coordinate with the Internet team. The book uses Chapter Four, "Wiring the Party" (p. 87), to explore Dean's chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee and his investments in technologically restructuring and branding the Democratic Party online, building the national voter file, and repairing fractured relationships with state parties. …