Internet and Democracy

April 17

Digital tools are seen as playing a major part in political activities and revolutions around the world from the Green Revolution in Iran to the recent events in the Middle East and North Africa. In this class, we'll explore the role of the Internet in political organizing, social movements and popular protests, and the potential impact of digital tools on governance.

Readings

• A Tunisian-Egyptian Link That Shook Arab History

• Clay Shirky on social media in the Middle East and North Africa

• Etling, Kelly, Faris and Palfrey, Mapping the Arabic Blogosphere: Politics, Culture and Dissent
  • Problems with the Etling, Kelly, Faris and Palfrey PDF? If you're off campus and presented with a website saying you need to sign up to access this article . . . you do not. Sign into Harvard's VPN solution and you'll then have access or access it while on the Harvard network (on campus). Or ask nicely and I'm sure it can be emailed to you. :-) --Adavies01 01:29, 14 April 2011 (UTC)
  • Updated link to the Etling, et al. piece: Mapping the Arabic Blogosphere

Additional Resources

• Bruce Etling and John Kelly, Mapping Iran's Online Public

• Etling, Alexanyan, Kelly, Faris, Palfrey, and Gasser, Public Discourse in the Russian Blogosphere: Mapping RuNet Politics and Mobilization

• Josh Goldstein and Juliana Rotich, Digitally Networked Technology in Kenya's 2007-2008 Post-Election Crisis.

• Faris, Etling, Madison and the Smart Mob: The Promise and Limitations of the Internet for Democracy

Links

While researching for my paper I came across this interesting static. The United States is ranked a mere 20th on the Press Freedom Index for 2010. This list ranks countries' level of freedom of the press. The United States, who is typically a world leader in promoting freedom, is languishing behind many European nations. Joshuasurillo 00:26, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

State of Texas exposes data of 3.5 million people I mentioned this story in the chat room during last class, seemed to be a good point considered the private vs state accumulation of personal info discussion that we were having. It's a quick read, and it'll make you squirm. Mcforelle 18:20, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Here is a link to Fareed Zakaria's 1997 "The Rise of Illiberal Democracy" essay, referenced in the Faris/Etling article, which contrasts "Democracy" with "Constitiutional Liberalism". http://www.fringer.org/wp-content/writings/fareed.pdf BrandonAndrzej 23:29, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

If we're looking to Tunisia and Egypt, I really think we ought to be looking at Tunisian and Egyptian sources, particularly in light of the fact that we're reading what is largely considered an inaccurate portrayal by the NYTimes. Here are two great pieces from an Egyptian blogger (they're not necessarily representative, but they're the best English sources I've found so far): http://www.hanimorsi.com/blog/index.php/archives/2011/02/22/from-clicktivism-to-activism/; http://www.hanimorsi.com/blog/index.php/archives/2011/02/17/the-virtualization-of-dissent-social-media-as-a-catalyst-for-social-change-part-two/. I also think that these two 2008 pieces from Egyptian journalist Hossam El-Hamalawy are vital reading, incredibly prescient: http://www.arabawy.org/2008/05/08/the-revolution-will-be-flickrized/; http://www.arabawy.org/2008/02/26/a-call-to-blogo-arms/. Jyork 20:09, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

This article too: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/02/egypt-revolution-mubarak-wall-of-fear Jyork 20:11, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Interesting Question: Do Government Agencies Need a Twitter Tsar? --Gclinch 15:31, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

This is a great little video that considers some of the negative impact that the internet can have on democracy. RSAnimate: Does the Internet actually inhibit, not encourage democracy? Saambat 23:11, 19 April 2011 (UTC)