Discussions of the impact of the new media on democratic politics 
 often generalize too broadly about new technologies and almost 
 always take for granted a uniformity about democracies. Democra-
 cies vary across nations and over time. For the USA, it is argued 
 that Americans have had four different visions of what political spe-
 ech and participation should be. American democracy has shifted 
 from a citizenship of deference, to one of party enthusiasm, to a 
 model of the informed citizen, to the contemporary model of irreve-
 rent citizenship. Each model calls forth different versions of a public 
 sphere. What is the democracy that technology is having an impact 
 on? This question must be integrated in the discussion of the impact 
 of technology on democracy.