“We’re at a point in history that whether the Internet is going to evolve in a way that’s compatible with democracy and human rights is really kind of up in the air.” WayHumansKindDemocracyRightsAirInternetHuman RightsEvolveCompatibleUp In The AirDemocracy And Human Rights Author:Rebecca MacKinnon
“New information technologies-including email, the web, and computerized blast-faxes and phone calls-have fundamentally changed the landscape of political competition in modern democracies. They've done so in three ways: by dramatically boosting the access of individuals and special interests to politically potent information, by making it easier for such people to coordinate their activities and exert political power, and by greatly increasing the pace of events within our political systems.” PeopleWayDonePoliticalThreePoliticsIndividualInterestTechnologyDemocracyModernSpecialEventsInformationChangedInternetEasierActivityCompetitionIncludingPhonesAccessLandscapePaceEmailBlastPolitical SystemsPhone CallsInformation TechnologyPolitical PowerSpecial InterestsCoordinatesNew InformationThree WaysFax Author:Thomas Homer-Dixon
“Our democracy, our constitutional framework is really a kind of software for harnessing the creativity and political imagination for all of our people. The American democratic system was an early political version of Napster.” PeopleKindPoliticalPoliticsImaginationCreativityDemocracyInternetCapitalismDemocraticVersionsSoftwareFrameworkNapster Author:Al Gore
“One of the things that I realized when I left office was that in the 1990's citizens across the world applied more power than they had ever had, as compared with the government, because of more people living under democracies than dictatorships for the first time, the power of the internet, which the young Chinese used to basically change China's policy on the SARS epidemic, and shut it down, and because of the rise in non-governmental organizations like my foundation.” PeopleWorldFirstsGovernmentYoungUsedLeftDemocracyPolicyInternetCitizensOfficeFirst TimeOrganizationDown AndFoundationChinaI RealizedChineseDictatorshipEpidemicsSars Author:William J. Clinton
“Our culture is at a critical cusp - a time that requires that we define what it means to be a citizen in a democracy. Within our nation we need to foster a greater sense of collective responsibility.” NeedsMeanCultureNationsResponsibilityDemocracyGreaterInternetCitizensCriticalCollectivesFree SpeechCuspCollective Responsibility Author:Robert Neelly Bellah
“There is a connection waiting to be made between the decline in democratic participation and the explosion in new ways of communicating. We need not accept the paradox that gives us more ways than ever to speak, and leaves the public with a wider feeling than ever before that their voices are not being heard. The new technologies can strengthen our democracy, by giving us greater opportunities than ever before for better transparency and a more responsive relationship between government and electors” WayNeedsGivingMadeFeelingsGovernmentOpportunityPoliticsSpeakWaitingVoiceAcceptingTechnologyDemocracyGreaterHeardInternetConnectionsDemocraticCommunicateParadoxDeclineNew WaysParticipationExplosionsTransparencyNew Technology Author:Robin Cook
“A democracy survives when its citizens have access to trustworthy and impartial sources of information, when it can discern lies from truth. Take this away and a democracy dies. The fusion of news and entertainment, the rise of a class of celebrity journalists on television who define reporting by their access to the famous and the powerful, the retreat by many readers into the ideological ghettos of the Internet and the ruthless drive by corporations to destroy the traditional news business are leaving us deaf, dumb and blind.” LyingDiesPowerfulClassDemocracyInformationTelevisionSourceReaderInternetCitizensNewsBlindLeavingEntertainmentAccessTraditionalDumbJournalistCorporationsRetreatDeafRuthlessIdeologicalGhettoTrustworthyFusion Author:Chris Hedges
“Those who applaud social production and networked amateurism, the colorful cacophony that is the Internet, and the creative capacities of everyday people to produce entertaining and enlightening things online, are right to marvel. There is amazing inventiveness, boundless talent and ability, and overwhelming generosity on display. Where they go wrong is thinking that the Internet is an egalitarian, let alone revolutionary, platform for our self-expression and development, that being able to shout into the digital torrent is adequate for democracy.” PeopleThinkingSelfAbleSocialAbilityCreativeDemocracyTalentProduceExpressionDevelopmentInternetCapacityEverydayProductionsGenerosityRevolutionaryDigitalOnlineOverwhelmingDisplayEntertainingPlatformsAdequateEnlighteningBoundlessSelf ExpressionColorfulInventivenessCacophonyTalents And Abilities Book:The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age Source: The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age
“People don't talk to each other. You're alone with your television set or internet. But you can't have a functioning democracy without what sociologists call "secondary organizations," places where people can get together, plan, talk and develop ideas. You don't do it alone.” PeopleIdeasTogetherDemocracyPlansTelevisionInternetOrganizationGet TogetherSociologists Author:Noam Chomsky