Information Policy in National Political Campaigns: A Comparison of the 2008 Campaigns for President of the United States and Prime Minister of Canada

The parallel 2008 campaigns for President of the United States and Prime Minister of Canada provided a unique opportunity for a comparison of the issues raised in the campaigns of two neighboring countries with many similarities. After exploring the roles of information policy in recent political campaigns, this article compares the information policy and technology issues emphasized in the platforms and positions of the major party candidates in the 2008 races, both between the candidates of each nation and across the border. The article also compares the uses of information technologies by the campaigns to organize and disseminate their messages. As information policy issues are central aspects of the political agenda in technologically advanced nations and those nations that wish to become technologically advanced, the ways in which the issues are raised in political campaigns can be quite instructive about current approaches to and future directions in information policy.