Is the internet an instrument of global democratization
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6252918 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kevin A Hill (Florida International University), John E Hughes (0000-0002-3944-8326, Monmouth University) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 99-127 |
| Publication date | 1999-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Democratization (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13510349908403613 |
| OpenAlex | W1990447838 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 23 |
This article explores the hypothesis that people in less democratic nations will use the Internet newsgroups devoted to those countries as a relatively ‘safe’ form of political discussion and even protest. Also, it is expected that nationals of those countries living overseas will use these newsgroups to more openly discuss politics in those nations than they could otherwise do so. Before turning to a content analysis of the messages posted in non‐United States Usenet groups, the number of these groups and the levels of political discussion in them are quantified. The article quantifies the international usage of the Usenet as a first attempt to find some patterns in this usage that may be politically motivated. After all, many pundits imagine that the Internet will become the vaunted ‘global village’ and source of ‘grass‐roots democracy’, and not merely in the United States. An examination of the content of about 2500 messages in 41 Usenet groups then follows, with a view to establishing the following: how many messages are explicitly political; how many are in opposition to the current government; how many are pro‐government; whether they primarily serve as alternative sources of news; whether they are attempts to recruit people in the subject country and around the world into some sort of political action; and whether richer nations are more likely to have higher levels of discussion in their newsgroups than poorer ones. The findings conclude that newsgroups devoted to countries with lower levels of democratization have a much higher percentage of anti‐government messages than the newsgroups about nations that are more democratic
Democracy · Democratization · Government (linguistics · Media studies · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Social Media and Politics
Democracy from Above
Digital access, political networks and the diffusion of democracy
Researching the impact of ICTs as change catalysts in Africa
The internet's political impact and the penetration/participation paradox in Malaysia and Singapore
Democracy from above
Technology and democracy
Does the use of a biometric system guarantee an acceptable election's outcome? Evidence from Ghana's 2012 election
Prospects of Democracy
Politics and the effectiveness of foreign aid
The Passing of Traditional Society
Democracy in Developing Countries
Making Democracy Work
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Is There a Democracy Gene
Reexamining Democracy
Computer Communications in Cross-Border Coalition-Building North American NGO Networking Against Nafta
The Passing of Traditional Society
Computer-Mediated Political Communication
"The Tide Underneath the "Third Wave
Political Loyalties and Social Class Ties
Political Participation and the Neighborhood Social Context
Political Environments, Cohesive Social Groups, and the Communication of Public Opinion
Will More Countries Become Democratic
Economic Development and Democracy Reconsidered
Some Social Requisites of Democracy
Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development
Churches as Political Communities
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,32 |
| Citation span | 2004 - 2019 (16) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |