Cyber Protest: Civil Society's Another Voice?

In this information-oriented society, there are new political participations such as electronic polls and political party activities through Internet unlike past. People could express their opinions and thoughts freely in cyber space with rapid growth of Internet penetration and spread. So, they can state their views and make their heard in various parts; politics, economy, society and culture. These kinds of activism have been increasing more and more since starting 21st century. Moreover, it affects not only domestic matters, but also international matters. This study focuses on political participation in cyber space, specifically, cyber protest. It is sometimes overactive or damages counterpart seriously. Is it another form of civil society?s reaction or is it just irrational and thoughtless activities based on anonymity and freedom in cyber space?. To solve this question, first, I research the relations among civil society, social movement and democratic consolidation. Then, I apply the theories in cyber space. Doing this work, I examine the character of cyber space, distinct features of individual, group and civil society and their collective action. After that, I try to analyze if the collective action in cyber space could be a social movement and is helpful to the development of E-democracy as an alternative of representational democracy by exemplifying the case of Korea?s cyber protest toward Japan from 2001 to 2010. Finally, I insist that erstwhile cyber protest doesn?t enough to say a new form of social movements yet, despite of its contribution to the ways and transition beyond offline collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]