Social Sciences: Democratization and Networked Communication

DEMOCRATIZATION AND NETWORKED COMMUNICATION
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Democratization and Networked Communication
Abstract
This essay will explore how the internet has affected the participation of the public in politics. First, the concepts of democracy will be explored relying on the various works of authors who have explored democracy. This will be limited to online interaction where the public access information, generate, share, and comment, and express their opinions on contents that does not have any impact or participation on actual politics (real politics that is based on practical goals rather than ideological notions). The digital divide is an important issue since we are talking of technology therefore it should also be discussed in the essay. Although there are valid arguments from different scholars who argue that the internet has rekindled democracy, there is no proof that advancements in technology has led to democratization. Although the essay explores the aspects of deliberative and participatory democracy, the main argument will be based on democracy being understood as liberal democracy (Della Porta, 2013).
Definition of Democracy
For the essay to be explored in detail a coherent understanding of democracy should be done due to its different definitions from different scholars and it is open to interpretations. The definition of democracy is open to any interpretation depending on the context that one is referring to (Whitehead, 2002). Therefore, according to Tilly, "Democracy is power from the people, of the people and for the people: it derives from the people, belongs to the people and for people", (Tilly, 2007). Whitehead goes further to say that democratization "consists of progress towards a more rule-based, more consensual and more participatory type of politics", (Whitehead, 2002). Therefore, democratization is an ongoing process towards a participatory politics. In her book Can Democracy be Saved? Della Porta states that the definition of democracy has been focusing on ‘procedural criteria which mainly considered free, competitive and periodic elections’ as a justification for the existence of democracy in a country. This normative concept is democracy is not adequate thus she goes further to offer the models of democracy: liberal democracy, deliberative democracy, and participatory democracy (Della Porta, 2013).
Forms of Democracy
Liberal democracy
It is characterized by the fundamental procedural attributes of right to vote, fair and free elections, and representative institutions which are formed by electoral voting system (Whitehead, 2002). Therefore, elections are the main key to the definition of liberal democracy in which ‘"regimes that guarantee the right to vote to all citizens are thus democratic", Della Porta, 2013). According to Della Porta (2013) "Democracy here is conceived as the right of the citizenship to participate in the determination of collective will through the mediation of elected representatives". Therefore, in this model of democracy, power is vested on representative institutions since people are considered to be ignorant and incompetent to be given the power of running political affairs thus to mitigate an...