The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy

Philip N. Howard

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Author
Philip N. Howard
Publish Date
2010-09-21
Subtitle
Information Technology and Political Islam
Book Type
Hardcover
Number of Pages
304
Publisher Name
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10
0199736413
ISBN-13
9780199736416
citemno
257500
Edition
1
SKU
9780199736416

Description

Around the developing world, political leaders face a dilemma: the very information and communication technologies that boost economic fortunes also undermine power structures. Globally, one in ten internet users is a Muslim living in a populous Muslim community. In these countries, young people are developing political identities online, and digital technologies are helping civil society build systems of political communication independent of the state and beyond easy manipulation by cultural or religious elites.

With unique data on patterns of media ownership and technology use, The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy demonstrates how, since the mid-1990s, information technologies have had a role in political transformation. Democratic revolutions are not caused by new information technologies. But in the Muslim world, democratization is no longer possible without them.