Will governments in the 21st century be only nightmares?

The Web doesn't bridge divisions; it multiplies and sharpens them. It doesn't build consensus or national coalitions; it grows factions. Truth be told, the Web doesn't network people at all--it lets them network themselves, which is quite different. The Web is the place where people can roll their own, and given that freedom, people tend to coalesce in relatively small, insular groups.
The real genius of the Web, in short, is that it lets people disconnect.

I agree with the author here. There is a good chance that people from the left and right of the political spectrum will agree with the author--even though the observation comes from Peter Huber with the Manhattan Institute. So, here is the irony: Most people left of the political center would not even know about this observation because they don't bother to listen to anything from the Manhattan Institute. If The Nation were to make a valid observation, there is a good chance that the people from the right would not have heard it at all. (All these are restatements of the old philosophical question, if a tree falls in a forest ....)

If Huber is on the right track, and I think he is, then we will not see any "uniter" anymore. Bush couldn't do it. Obama says he will, but I doubt it.

I suppose the political system in the US is not compatible with the multiplication of factions we see, more so thanks to the internet. On the other hand, such divisions will work well with parliamentary systems that have a gazillion political parties, and with proportional representation.

In any case, we are then looking at governments that won't be able to push any big agenda items. Which also means that we might never be able to undo any of the irresponsible policies from the past--we will be stuck with them forever.

21st century government seems to be more of a nightmare.
Thanks to Peter Gordon for the link to Huber's commentary.