> #PublicParticipation in voting has steadily declined as #television replaced face-to-face politics of precincts and #neighborhoods .
> Passive monitoring of electronic news and information allows citizens to feel involved while dampening the desire to take an active part.
> If people begin to rely on computerized data bases and telecommunications as a primary means of exercising power, it is conceivable that genuine #PoliticalKnowledge based in first-hand experience would vanish altogether.