Todays society has long since departed from the Athenian model of civic engagement.

In this model, people would travel across their country to participate in their society. Whether this engagement was forced (like liturgies), or not, their civic activity was source of great Athenian pride. The next step may seem like a regression from this point since civic engagement became more local with people tending to engage their immediate surroundings (if they did at all). Now, civic engagement has transformed right under societys nose. The increasing globalization of the world and the rise of the internet have created an entirely new model of civic engagement, an invisible model. The time of speeches in the amphitheater has evolved into a time where all people can participate in whatever rhetorical situation they choose. As Crowley and Hawhee defined the rhetorical situation, In short, kairos is not about duration but rather a certain kind of time. (pg. 32) The internet has become a valuable tool for people to become civically engaged via rhetoric. The time available to address issues remains available as long as someone still wants to speak or write on the issue. People seeking to be civically engaged may easily find an issue to write about, organize protests about, or even in some cases fight back against what they deem to be injustice. As Aristotle once observed, in addition, it would be strange if an inability to defend oneself by means of the body is shameful, while there is no shame in an inability to use speech: the latter is more characteristic to humans than is use of the body. (pg. 3-4) The invisible model of civic engagement provides a safe mask of anonymity to allow people to defend themselves through speech without fear of repercussion. Furthermore, society has left the rhetorical style where one speaks to many. Now, all may speak to all, with rhetorical arguments constantly being critiqued or strengthened by the invisible community that lives within cyberspace. To make this model even stronger, the internet provides all of the communication forms that this model needs, be they images, videos, message boards, chat-rooms, etc. Any one of these forms can be used rhetorically to either directly engage the community or to inspire others to take action. According to Isocrates speech, With speech we fight over contentious matters, and we investigate the unknown. We use the same arguments by which we persuade other in our own deliberations:If one must summarize the power of discourse, we will discover that nothing done prudently occurs without speech (logos), that speech is the leader of all thoughts and actions, and that the most intelligent people use it most of all.

The opportunity for speech is now readily available to anyone with an internet connection. People are able to communicate their ideas across nations and act on their communications. The government overthrow in Egypt is a great example of this model in action. Had one person gotten on a soap box and spoke out against the government, the revolution may not have happened. Because of the shroud of anonymity allowed by the internet, people from all over the country were able to mobilize and create a powerful change, one that oppressive governments will not soon forget. These groups of strangers banding together have become the norm; with groups like Anonymous regularly acting out in response to things they perceive to be civically unjust. While it may be a far cry from amphitheaters and Athenians, the invisible model of rhetorical civic engagement is certainly a child of the Greek tradition.