Internet-Based Collaborations and Their Political Significance

Abstract

In recent years, we have witnessed the notable accomplishments of numerous Internet-based large-scale collaborations, which typically rely on small contributions by many participants. In the first part of the paper we highlight the political relevance and significance of such collaborations, and we argue that Internet-based collaboration is turning into an important organizing principle for the production of a variety of goods by a range of political actors. In the second part, we analyze why the Internet is conducive for such collaborations and we focus on a number of factors, most significantly on the reduced costs of both individual contributions and the social organization of production, and on the large and excessive number of potential contributors attracted to focal collaborations.

Key Words:

• Collaboration
• collective action
• free riding
• cooperation
• communication
• computer-mediated communication
• Internet
• social movements
• virtual communities
• transaction cost economics