The Web of Democracy

Michael C. Gizzi is an associate professor of political science and director of the Institute for Modeling Complexity at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. After receiving his bachelor's degree at Saint Michael's College in Vermont, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University at Albany, SUNY, in public law and American politics. Dr. Gizzi teaches courses on the judicial process, constitutional law, the presidency, and introduction to American politics. He has written on plea bargaining and appellate decision-making using computer simulations. His current scholarly interests focus on the study of complex adaptive systems and their applications to judicial politics and legal institutions. Dr. Gizzi is the past president of the American Political Science Association's Section on Information Technology and Politics and is currently a member of its council. William R. Wilkerson is an associate professor of political science and chair of the department at the College at Oneonta, SUNY. His bachelor's degree and Ph.D. are from the University at Albany, SUNY. Dr. Wilkerson has taught U.S. Government for 15 years and teaches upper-division courses in public law and American politics. Most recently his research has focused on technology and the Supreme Court, and computer simulation of judicial processes. He coordinates the College at Oneonta's Social Science Computing Laboratory and was a co-principal investigator of a National Science Foundation Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement Program grant. During spring 2001, Dr. Wilkerson served as the first faculty fellow in Oneonta's Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center. He is a former member of the council of the American Political Science Association's Section on Information Technology and Politics. Tracey Gladstone-Sovell is professor of political science and chair of the department at the University of Wisconsin'River Falls. Her bachelor's degree is from Penn State University. Her master's and Ph.D. are from Purdue University. Previously, she taught at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Dr. Gladstone-Sovell teaches courses in political philosophy, media, and constitutional law, and has taught the introductory American politics course for 25 years. She has written in the area of popular television and politics and has a continued scholarly interest in the history of American political thought. She has long been an advocate of the use of technology in teaching at her university, and serves on its Faculty and Academic Staff Development Board. She is a member and past president of the American Political Science Association's Section on Information Technology and Politics. Recently she has been actively involved in project promoting civic engagement through the "American Democracy Project," an American Association of State Colleges and Universities sponsored initiative.