Janssen, Davy, and Raphaël Kies. "Online forums and deliberative democracy." Acta política 40 (2005): 317-335.

This article explores the role of the Internet in facilitating political and societal discussions through online forums, examining the quality of these dialogues. It reviews empirical research on various types of forums, including Usenet groups, web-based political forums, and e-consultation forums. The paper is structured into three sections: the first reviews existing research findings, the second introduces variables that explain variations in deliberation quality, and the third addresses methodological challenges in measuring the quality of online deliberation. The article concludes by critiquing prior studies and suggesting directions for more thorough analysis of online forums.