From Chapter One: `` For the first time in human history, we have the means to create a virtual democracy, to test it, and to make it real--both locally and globally. At any level of organization, we can model a currently existing democracy, reform the model, and modify the reforms through a highly participative public discourse. We could even vote the reforms into law by a teledemocratic ballot. ``At any moment or in any place, a single individual could initiate a process that would lead to dramatic changes in the way we organize our societies--and those changes could occur within a fraction of that individual's lifetime. ``In effect, we are capable of planting a seed, nourishing its growth, and--with its full flowering--of transforming the entire world's political and economic structure--all within the span of time it takes to give birth to a single human child. From Chapter Four: `` There are a brave few... a happy few who already believe in the possibility of creating a real world that more closely matches their dreams. They are the people who will seed the next world. They will create the next frame of position and direction into which large numbers will eventually begin to move.'' Cover art by T. Scott Sayre Cover design by Will Foreman Hard Copy Editions USA $13.85 Canada $18.75

Table of Contents Acknowledgments CHAPTER 1..... Surfing the Third Wave Something New Under the Sun New Bottles, Old Wine The New Realities Finding Acceptable Solutions Many Paths, One End Define Yourself to Define the Net Teledemocracy Reform Now Controlling the Agenda Computer Illiteracy Securing Communication Lines Heterarchical Anonymity Birds on a Wire, Cash On The Line Revolution or Reform? CHAPTER 2..... On the Nature of Paradise Change Is Not The Same Anymore A Slow Boat to Paradise? CHAPTER 3..... The Internet, Power, and Political Reform Power to the Person Understanding Power The Power Segue Reform The Mystery of Democracy Periodic Renewal Independent Election Councils Compulsory Participation Limited Terms Campaign Financing Media Reform Counting Ballots Democratic Education Automatic Review A Summary and Overview Direct Democracy Advancing the Internet Parsing Political Communication Virtual Democracy CHAPTER 4.....The Creation of New Democracies Introduction Creative Politics The Syntropic Solution The Motivational Dilemma Creating a New Politics The Party of Change is NOT a Party The Idea of a Distributed Community The Syntropic World System Small Syntropic Systems The Evolution of Virtual Communities Description of the Syntropic Community The Evolution of Individual Personality Co-evolution of Personality and Politics Bibliography