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Democracy In the dictionary the definition for democracy is "government by the people in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system." According to the Department of State of the United States of America, "democracy is the institutionalization of freedom". To have a wider idea of the term, in the same page are listed the Pillars of Democracy:
-Sovereignty of the people. Basically, there are two categories of Democracy: direct and representative. "In a direct democracy -says the US Department-, all citizens, without the intermediary of elected or appointed officials, can participate in making public decisions. Such a system is clearly only practical with relatively small numbers of people. [] Today, the most common form of democracy, whether for a town of 50,000 or nations of 50 million, is representative democracy, in which citizens elect officials to make political decisions, formulate laws, and administer programs for the public good". Electronic Democracy The Internet arrived at a time when politicians are loosing peoples trust. Facing a society with no political answers and with no new ideologies, part of the younger generation saw the new technology as a way of direct democracy. The utopia was for everybody to have a voice. But in terms of direct democracy, the idea of gathering this altogheter in a "virtual space" and interchange ideas is simple not possible. Beside this, it is doubtless that the Internet is affecting and participating in the political practice. "Democracy is the institutionalization of freedom", and the Internet offers an easy way to excercise it. But it is also a fact that people felt irritated with what we call "too much freedom" about certain content on the net and this lead to the creation of regulations in some countries (USA) while in others is stell being debatated. "As with television, the Internet is accused of having a hand in the perceived corruption of society, with websites offering pornography and prostitution and the threat of paedophiles using the Internet. Such sites do exist, as they would in a society that has pornography, prostitution and, regrettably, paedophiles. However, unlike television, the majority of households are not as yet linked up to the Internet. So why the outrage? Because there is fear of a medium which is accessible, popular, and unregulated. Fear of a media technology which allows people to express their ideas and tell their own stories and discuss globally ideas and practices for change. The fear comes from the spectacular coalition of governments, media corporations, military interests multinationals, companies with dubious business practices, and 'moral' arbiters - who enlist in their ranks of civilian supporters people who are afraid of life, bitter that their own lives are so subjected, enslaved and curtailed by the spectacle that they will cry out to urge social control in the name of 'society', and repression in the name of liberty." sais an article by Gillian McLver, "Media and the Spectacular Society", published by the The Hypermedia Research Centre of the University of Westminister (www.hrs.wmin.ac.uk/hrs). Threats The instiutionalization of freedom is not only threatened by the state, but also by the market. An article about Hypermedia Freedom by Richard Barbrook at the University of Westminister states that "both politicians and corporations have a common interest in ensuring that middle America is not disturbed by any radical political and cultural ideas emanating from new forms of mass communications. Therefore, any meaningful campaign for cyber-rights has to fight for freedom of expression against both state and market forms of censorship. The development of the Net offers a way of overcoming the political and economic restrictions on free speech within the existing media. Everyone could have the opportunity not only to receive information and entertainment, but also to transmit their own productions. The problem is how this potentiality will be realised. A campaign for hypermedia freedom can only be successful if it recognises the inherent contradictions within this fundamental right of citizens. The political rights of each individual are circumscribed by the rights of other citizens. For instance, in order to protect children, the state has a duty to restrict the freedom of speech of paedophiles on the Net. Because ethnic minorities have the right to live in peace, the democratic republic should try to prevent fascists from organising online. But, apart from these minimal restrictions, citizens do have the right to say what they like to each other. A democratic state certainly has no mandate to impose a narrow religious morality on all its citizens regardless of their own beliefs. Contrary to the predictions of the pessimists, it is possible to win the struggle against both the political and economic censorship of cyberspace. Although the state can - and should - prosecute the small minority of paedophiles and fascists, the resources needed to spy on everyone's email and Web sites will make the imposition of moral puritanism very difficult to enforce. Even with sophisticated censorship programs, the sheer volume of Net traffic should eventually overwhelm even a well-funded surveillance body. While it might just about be possible to regulate the output of thousands of radio and television stations, the sheer cost of vetting many millions of users logging onto a global network of online services would be prohibitive. The social nature of hypermedia is the best defence of the individual's right of freedom of expression".
The medium is the message. The net is spreading peoples thoughts and
feelings with a freedom wich was not known before, because it is accesible
to everyone. The final thought about others thoughts is pointed by McLver:
"In the end, to challenge the passivity that wrings its hands at,
yet accepts, environmental pollution, exploitation, the alliance of
government and big business in Third World oppression, structural unemployment
and a carceral approach to social problems, we must create intellectual
and psychological freedom. To do this, we must be able to discuss ideas,
tactics and know |