On-line democracy or on-line demagoguery? Public opinion "polls" on the internet

Abstract

Over the past few years, political candidates and their parties have jumped on the bandwagon of cyberpolitics by creating Web sites to disseminate information and to take the pulse of the voters.The number of on-line polls has also increased dramatically. In surveying such polls on the Web, this article examines how they are conducted and how they are reported by the traditional news media.