Politics and

Dem

ocracy

Internet and

Society 2008

Outline

Smart mobs, Organisation through ICTs Popular revolution, emergent behaviour

People power and TXT revolutionsSocial MovementsProblem of democracy

“E-democracy” Internet and democracy

Social capital, embeddedness and public sphere Blogging

Bottom up participation - empowered citizen?

Common ideasAppropriation and social shaping of technologyImportance of existing context and identityUnanticipated consequencesTechnology amplifies actions and social tensions in

and between institutionsTechnology appropriated by/and amplifying existing

changes and trendsMany2many communicationNetwork society: active wiredEmergent social organisation from ubiquitous useSocial networks, social capital, weak ties,

communities of internet and personalised community..

Power and JusticeCitizens control of power of entrenched political institutionsHow will the internet be appropriated in/by political

processes?Can the Internet and ICTs provide a platform for holding to

account, and provide alternatives to established political order? Empower individual citizens Provide information transparency Set alternative agendas Coalesce and mobilise mass into political activity Open up new forms of Governance PluralismIn an age of managerial government, a few mainstream ideologiesHow will end-to-end, mass access, many-to many, 2 way

communications make a difference?

Smart MobsMany to many technologies and power to the peopleNetworks, word of mouth and collective actionNetwar

Philippines, Indonesia revolutions Petrol strike, WTO Terrorists, Criminals, Activists.

Smart Crowds Reclaiming public spaces by collective action

Mobile Adhoc networking experimentsSwarming, emergence, social coordination

Threshold levels for cooperation Coordination problem Coordination knowledge - examples in Internet Autonomous agents closely connected can produce collective

action - this action is not controlled or design - it emerges

Popular revolutions

Challenge totalitarianism or major failure of government and democracy institutions/mechanisms.

Technology in hands of massesMany to manyone-to-one and 6 degree effect

Failure of democracyZapatistas - external influencePhilippines - Church and TXT (more recently “hello Garci”) IndonesiaSpainKoreaUkraine etc etc

Challenge to Nation-StatePower - violence reserved for the stateNation state fosters/protects economic activityTraditional realist accounts : nation-states acting as

independent agentsNew cross-boundary challengesEconomic activity increasingly international - ignores

borders - challenges state’s existence Environment, culture, technology Idealist accounts: nation-state undermined

Weakened from above - has to bend to international institutions (commercial and governmental)

New international institutions un-democratic Undermines national welfare state

Internet in global social movementsWTO - MAI Battle of SeattleEnvironmentalismCoordination mechanisms in planning,

and actionReinforce the very problem they

challenge.Extra-state people power - just as

unaccountable

Internet and Social Movements

Outside established political mechanism (v. interest groups)

Politics by unconventional meansHeterogenousLoosely structured, fluidNew movements (environment,justice, women)

not firmly fixed in social milieuxDiversity, grassroots, decentralisation,

informalityInternet would appear to be just the thing!

Social Movements1 Coordination of resources

E.g. Time, money, Managerial interpretation2 Connection to political system3 Ideology and beliefs

How one should actFraming ideas and debates v.established media.

Many different response to Internet and ICTsBig, established orgs. V. global informal networks.Marketing, professionalisationReturn to grassrootsMedia campaignsGlobal coordination Inter-group coordination Increased fragmentation

DemocracyFailure of western democracy?

Low turnoutLow party membership (&trade unions etc)Support of single interest groupsEnd of mainstream ideological partiesMass marketing and mangerialism in politics

Disconnection with voters/politicians=low participationRetreat to the domestic/private - reduction in

social capital(Putnam) Privatised social networks (Wellman, Castells

etc)

Internet/IT fixAthenean modelHabermas - Public Sphere

Historical analysis Rational discourse Internet: create new ‘public spheres’

E-democracy experiments Tools for rational deliberation Desire to increase participation Networks, place-centred experiments Unconvincing except in a few cases.

E-government: Consultation Managerialism (efficiency, service delivery)

Agre: Internet and the Political ProcessAppropriation perspectiveAmplification model Institutional and social network approachesApproaches to Internet and Democracy

Online discussion fora Unmediated political community Intermediaries redundant/changed Information use of Internet Voting Process Decentralised power Global market decentralisation Centralisation Social equality via anonymity Open/transparent information

Institutions of politics (Agre)

Rules, identities, roles, strategies

LegislatorsLaws and Legal systemPartiesForms of DebateNews Management (Spin)Organisation of interest groups

Internet/Technology amplifies existing forces, institutions in short -medium term.

Intensify conflict

Agre 3Reinforcement model - failure to produce change, just

reinforcement of existing institutions - therefore conservative

Amplification model: Internet appropriated by many change elements. Amplification effects not only conservative. Amplification of trends and emerging insitutions

Stand alone projects not the way , need to understand ‘Digital Embedding’

Agre 4

Need to reconceptualise the category of person by political and other institutions of society.

Internet mediated communities of interest anchored in institutional structures.

Reduced costs allow emergence of collective cognition.

No line between political and non-political communication.

But problem of being too connected - bad ideas can diffuse as quickly as good ones.

Agre 5Effect of ‘Spacing’ : we are in institutional

networks as well as individual onesICTs map and amplify those institutional spaces,

make them clearer.Political process based around individual voter -

can be targeted though datamining Everyone separated into individual human-data

political subject by political intermediaries -> Political surveillance

Increasing number of intermediaries linked to individuals: private media and political spheres

Agre 6

Internet allows strengthening of established and new institutions and organisations

But strengthens “steady background hum of information sharing within communities of practice”

Not a straightforward relationship. The stresses and tensions lead to social

change.

Political Parties

How do they use the Internet?

Old and New Media: Political Blog

Media: set agendas, filter news.Why Blogs have such high impact?Very few popular political blogsLow readershipLog distribution of links to blogs

A Few blogs concentrate, filter information from blogsphere These blogs have credibility with established media

Polarised Information outside mainstream Reading a political act by politically engaged

Platform for political mobilisation

Bottom up participation

Social capital and social network approachRecreate public spheresProblem or benefit of anonymityWhat do people do in/with civic networks?Existing political institutions don’t connect

well with civic networkingMove to co-governance or network

governanceMob rule or better democracy?

ConclusionsFew people politically activeTools for engaging mass participationTools for coordinating distant like-minded peopleUnforeseen emergent behaviour - faster than without

technology due to network effect and ubiquitous useEmerge from everyday civic engagement and

communities of internet, facilitated by Internet use.Existing governance structures not attuned to new ways

of political communication and action.Can the internet reinvigorate democracy or is it just

reinforcement?Change depends particular a society’s and culture’s

ability to cope and adapt. Internet too new - all to happen.

Next WeekSurveillance and PrivacyRead recommended papersAssignments

Read news reports on Info Commissioners reportThink about Surveillance - what sorts are thereYour own personal data: what is personal data?Privacy and consent to use: what do you accept?How you might be classified?