Networked Information Technologies, Elections, and Politics: Korea and the United States

Jongwoo Han’s Networked Information Technologies, Elections, and Politics: Korea and the United States is a study on the changes that have been occurring in elections, politics, and democratic movements in both the United States and Korea. There has undoubtedly been a paradigm shift in political discourse, as the industrial age mass media-based public sphere gives way to the new networked information technologies (NNIT)-based cyber sphere. Analyzing and comparing Korea’s presidential election in 2002 and the United States’ 2008 presidential election, Han discusses the impact of NNITs in electoral politics, as previously apolitical young generations have become more involved and transformed themselves into both a cohesive voting bloc and a formidable constituency. Han also addresses the role of NNITs in Korea’s beef crisis and President Obama’s legislation battle to reform the U.S. health care system, revealing unprecedented opportunities to observe this major change occurring in political systems during the so-called Information Age.