Christopher Kush in his book CyberCitizen: How to Use Your Computer to Figth for ALL the Issues You Care About is a remarkably well written book that looks at the methods for running a successful lobbying campaign and exploting the Internet to the best of your advantage. The book is not swept up into the power of the internet, instead it sees the Internet as a tool, but not as the sole way to work with the realms of power.

The Good: Balanced Perspective

It is obvious that Christopher Kush has had significant Washington Politics experience, and knows how things work, and how to get what you want from your legislators. He is not blinded by the power of technology or it's potential for democracizing—he realizes that DC is still a paper city and not an e-city. Legislators deal human concerns and not electronic concerns. He is not dismissive of technology, though noting the convience and usefulness of the many sites on the Internet that will assist in research, and the possibility of using email to contact your legislators.

There is a wealth of information on the Internet, and the saavy lobbyist will tap into it, and use it to track bills, money, other group's positions, and other important documents. The book lists the important sites on the internet for you to review to gain pertinate information on the major political organizations, all of them are well known to the contemporary political science student, but probably not to those of the younger generation.

As a side note, Statewatch, the company I have interned in the past 3 years, gives real-time and convient access to that information for New York Politics about $2,500 a year, but for the rest of us who can't afford that fee, and those wanting to know about the Federal Legislation this book gives a good overview of where you can find information and how to interact in a positive way to promote policy that you so desire.

The Bad: Dated Text

The book at this time of reading is 4 years old, a lifetime in the history of the Internet. With it's age, it has missed significant changes in politics post-9/11, the new administration in Washington DC, not to mention the bundles of changes online. The Supreme Court now posts cases to it's website, online campaign finance and organizing have become popular, and the notion of blogging has just exploded.

Blogging isn't going to change politics much in the near future, but gives a lot of different viewpoints on an issue, and allows the masses to easily express their feelings and ideas on issues. Not to mention, they create a thousand and one rumor mills on what is happening in government, some true and other less so.

Moreover, some of the sites listed in the book are no more, or have been superseded by better websites. I did not test out all of the links in the book, but I am guessing that some are broken. Organizations come and go in politics, and websites disappear even faster. We are more connected then 4 years ago, but in many ways the internet has evolved into new ways.

Conclusions

Christopher Kush knows DC politics well, and his book is wonderful. If he could release an updated book that would be even better. Highly recommended read!