Information And Communication Technology On Democracy Media Essay

Information And Communication Technology On Democracy Media Essay The development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the world. The centrality of information in our society has resulted in many declaring that we have entered into a new stage of human existence, often referred to as the Information Age. The easy access to ICT provides new opportunities for individuals and non-institutionalized organizations to unite and coordinate in order to publish their message across international boundaries. There have been movements that have adopted ICT as a tool of democracy but the real question is whether or not ICT can function as a tool in assisting democratic movements and political parties to raise national or international awareness of their cause. E-democracy and electronic government can drastically alter the relationship between government and citizens and the way they communicate (Darin, 2005). Furthermore, ICT-usage could be developed significantly as a tool for publicizing information. Democratic movements have much to gain in adopting better media skills and a greater understanding of the dynamics of the contemporary media system and the internet. The Information Ages altered media sphere can entail new and positive opportunities for political groups and grass roots movements if they learn to master the information technology media logic. Technology has produced an altered definition of democracy. The concepts we know are based on the citizens rights and the competition of power but that definition has drastically changed. For instance, Benjamin R. Barber notes that digital technology is well-suited to enhancing democracy (Benjamin, 1998) therefore democracy itself needs to be given a new definition to adapt to how technology is influencing the term. On one hand, e-democracy is the use of technical tools particularly the Internet to allow citizens access to information; to take part in petitions, consultations, deliberation, referenda and elections; and communicate with each other to form e-communities and movements, and take part in e-campaigning and e-activism (Edemocracy, 2008). On the other hand, democracy is a political system that protects the people, a system that allows the replacement of political leaders, one that promotes the active participation of citizens in their countries political affairs. With the Information Age new ways of doing things have emerged; now there is digital democracy, E-government and E-governance concepts, all of which are dramatically changing the political environment. Power too has been impacted as a consequence of ICT. Political power is no longer in the hands of two or three but grass roots movements have become involved in politics creating a more balanced and more evenly distributed political power system. The interest in using technology to develop an electronic type of democratic system is more North American in origin than any from any other part. Declining rates of political participation in North America has called for the introduction of new innovative ways of getting citizens to participate in politics electronically. As a consequence of the origin of electronic democracy any future world electronic political advancement will depend on the North American political culture. Europe and other developing nations such as Chile are also implementing the electronic democratic system which will balance any Americanization that might have suffered world politics. ICT gives political parties better ways to target and reach voters. Website has been used as a tool giving parties the ability to become their own news reporters (Stephen, 12) and better inform their target audience. President Barack Obamas previous campaign is a symbol that using the media and internet can yield great results to a political candidate. The internet for instance, has been used for fundraising, as a social medium for reaching voters and as a way to promote their political ideologies targeting specific segments of the population. Technology makes democracy more accessible and has eased the process of participating in ones government. For example, in developed and developing countries the internet is everywhere (Andrew and Christopher, 271). Every department has its own website and the same is true for political parties. Moreover, social media channels such as Facebook, Youtube and Myspace has allowed the government and parties to interact with citizens and voters in a way never seen before. Therefore information technology makes democracy more affordable and accessible for anyone, regardless of income or social status and further allows government and parties to use technology as a tool of democracy. Access is perhaps the most notable impact that ICT has had on democracy. Having the ability to say what we think when we want has increased political participation in the last few years, at least electronically. For example, on Youtube there are countless videos of grass roots, individuals and non-governmental organizations talking and protesting about certain issues; without technology that would never have been possible. Moreover, as a consequence of technologys involvement in political affairs new political culture and ideologies will emerge which may further complicate the association between democracy and ICT. To conclude, this essay has highlighted some of the ways in which technology is creating positive impacts to democracy, be it through fundraising or its social media usage to reach targeted segments of the society. It has also given a definition of democracy and of e-democracy and finally, it shows how ICT makes it easier for one to voice ones opinions and participate in governance affairs which is the main principle on which democracy is based. Therefore, ICT does have a positive impact on all individuals, political parties, non-governmental institutions and grass roots movements if they learn how to use the new media and information technology to be more effective and proactive.

Arthur Young Essay

Documents 1-2: How do the grievances noted by Arthur Young compare to those expressed in the Cahiers? The grievances noted by Arthur Young are focused more on the humanitarian needs of the French people during the late 1780’s. When looking at the document of September 2, 1788 Young mentions that there is an uproar over the high price of bread. There are many obstacles that a society can overcome, but when they are being starved and treated unjustly over humanitarian needs such as food, then there is a high possibility that they will revolt at any cost. There are also many similarities in both Young’s observances and the Cahiers. Both Young’s observances and the Cahiers note that the people are discontent with the fact that the First Estate made up of the clergy, and Second Estate made up of the nobility, are treated so well compared to the Third estate which included everyone from banker to lawyer and even the peasants. Therefore even though France was more revolutionary than any other country at the time, the disparity in classes between the rich and the poor was extremely obvious. Why might these grievances be revolutionary? And, in what ways are they peculiar to the Third Estate only and not the First and Second Estates? The grievances proposed by the Cahiers are extremely revolutionary. In fact you can see that these ideas seem oddly familiar because they exist today in our own constitution of the United States. One of the most famous ideas is proposed in idea 14, which states that freedom should be granted to the press. This idea is revolutionary because it would allow the people of France to freely express their discontents with the government and spread information freely throughout the country without the fear of being punished. Another great idea proposed by the Cahiers was the fact that all taxes should be assessed on the same system throughout the nation. It was imperative that the Third estate made this clear because even though they were the poorest, they were the ones being charged with the heaviest taxes. It was also interesting that the Cahiers brought up the fact that certain positions in offices and ranks should be granted to anyone who was qualified for the job, not just the nobility or based on heredity. This was revolutionary because it must have compelled many more people in France to obtain an education and strive for a better life because they were being granted opportunities. Documents 3-4: Based on your reading of these excerpts, what were the worst abuses of factory labor and the causes of poor working and health conditions? Right away what captures the readers attention is that the medical examiner is claiming that children as young as five years old were being sent to work as long as eleven hours a day. This idea is just unimaginable to most people because a five year old is hardly old enough to take care of himself, let alone maintain a job that requires him to work for eleven hours a day. It is just painful to hear that these children spent their childhoods working in the factories and as a result their growth was stunted, their bone development was compromised, and their health was so poor compared to children not working in factories. The testimony of John Wright really puts everything into perspective because it’s a first hand account of his life working in the factories since he was a six year old. The fact that he worked the same hours then, to the hours he worked as an adult just shows how despicable the working conditions were in the factories. Just like the medical examiner he also explained that the children who grew up in these working factories suffered many health complications, some even became crippled due to over exhaustion. According to Engels, how did such an environment affect the poor mentally as well as physically? Engels believed that the scandalous environment in which the poor were forced to live in was a result of continuous mistreatment from the upper classes. He claims that the poor were basically treated like animals, hoarded from the country in to the city, and forced to work ungodly hours in order to keep up with the demands of industrialization. Then the poor were forced to live in cramped quarters where no proper sanitation systems existed, and even clean drinking water was a luxury. Engels explains that because so many people were cramped into such small rooms for such a long period of time the air quality was severely polluted and this caused many health problems. Engels brings up many good points by questioning how the upper classes ever expected the poor to stay healthy or even humane when their conditions were beyond poor. The fact that the poor were always subjected to extremes of hopes and fears really threw most people over the edge. They had no choice but to be mentally unstable because of the conditions they lived in. They were constantly living for survival in the most disgusting conditions while the rich got richer due to their hard work. Document #5: These maps reveal something about connections between population density, urbanization, and the industrializing process. What do these maps tell us about these connections? What might some of the social consequences of these connections be? The maps explain that as industrialization grew, and urbanization grew, more and more people started to move into the cities in hopes of finding opportunities for work and better living standards. You can see that the first map of the population density in England in 1801 seems quite dispersed compared to the population density of England in 1851. Also you can see from the map of England in 1851 that there was a huge population boom in between those 50 years. When looking at the map of concentration of Industry in England in 1851 then it is clear that people moved from the countryside to the larger cities that were the heart of industrialization. Engle best described the social consequences of the changes from 1801 to 1851 in such a short period of time in the previously discussed documents. With overpopulation cities got more crowded and the living quality in these cities steadily decreased. The environment was affected tremendously due to the cluster of factories and misuse by the overpopulation. Disease was more prominent because it was easier to spread in unsanitary and overpopulated areas. When employment opportunities arise, people will surely flock to them, especially the poor. This was just the case in England during the industrialization. Sadly what people failed to realize is that their quality of life would greatly decrease rather than increase due to the mass overpopulation.

Is Democracy the Best Form of Political System?

Although there are many virtues to enjoy about democracy and democratic forms of government and political systems, this form of government has still many impending challenges yet to be accomplished. In that sense, I agree with Winston Churchill, on the grounds that â€Å"democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried† (Churchill). Looking at democracy through both its weaknesses and strengths in comparison to other forms of government makes it evident that it is the best form of political system we have, democracy has been subject to problems with, tyranny of the minority, and collective action.Despite all the democratic weaknesses of this form of government, democracy is still highly consistent in terms of Unpredictable outcomes, managing diversity. Lipset, in Political Man, described democracy as â€Å" a political system which supplies regular constitutional opportunities, and a social mechanism which permits the largest possible part of the population to influence major decisions by choosing among contenders for political office†(Glazer). This definition is generally accepted in a democratic heaven in which the heavenly chorus does not sing with a strong upper-class accent (lecture), but this is not always the case.Despite the democratic institutions based on the principle of equal opportunity, political power is not always distributed equally in a democracy. This is clearly seen in India where the â€Å"high cost of campaigning and the opaque system of election finance have titled the electoral odds heavily in favour of the very rich or the easily corrupted† (Ronjoy Sen 90). Although, similar problems can be found in other forms of governments and political system, what differentiates democracy from other regimes is how it manages to deal with those problems.For instance, in Germany’s authoritarian Fascist regime, â€Å"Hitler was very much his own master† (Henry Turner), and his war aims eventually led Germany to a world war conflict. By comparing Fascist Germany to India’s corrupt democracy, it is clearly demonstrated while, â€Å"small groups of leader have the final say in all important matters†(Sen), democracy is still a political system which allows the largest part of the population to influence major decisions. This is best illustrated when â€Å"India’s unpopular BJP Party lost power nationally in an election† (Nathan Glazer 18).Not every democracy will succeed in dealing with challenges of tyranny of minority and corruption, but democratic forms of government have institutions which offer capacity to change leaders in response to public discontent without changing the system. Collective action is a classical challenge in democracy and democratic forms of government. According to Blais, one of the main criteria for assessing electoral systems is representativeness. â€Å"This guarantees an electoral system in which the vote reflects as precisely as possible citizen’s preferences† (Blais 5).However, one of the challenges of a democratic electoral system is even if we have the right to express our views; we would not take advantage of it. As Olson in the article A Theory of Groups and Organization, notes, â€Å"Individuals in any group attempting collective action will have incentives to free ride if the group is working to provide public goods†(Olson). This is because the information cost of researching different candidates makes voting irrational, since the benefits of voting are not entirely clear.As a result, this promotes free riding, and a democratic government which vote does not reflect citizen’s preferences. If†¦ then not only it will be difficult by large groups to achieve their interests in common, but situations could occur where small groups can take over the majority’s incentives. However, what differentiates a democratic form of government from a tota litarian communist a regime is how it deals with the collective action problem with the help of institutional features such as courts.Courts are important political players in democracy. They are expected to moderate, and deal with challenges of democratic politics, not a setting for Stalin’s show trials. As Nathan Glazer put it, â€Å"Courts are accepted as ultimate arbiters not to be irresponsibly challenged. They can take unpopular positions that elected representative bodies cannot or do not, and in doing so they sustain the liberal objectives of democracies† (Nathan Glazer 19). Democracy is mainly about unpredictable outcomes.What makes democracy highly consistent is not knowing what the next election turnout will be, but having confidence that the candidate with a majority of votes would be elected. The essential goal of democracy is to provide a fair degree of uncertainty. What makes this form of government unique in contrast to China’s authoritarian regi me is its ability to allow an alternation of power. For instance, in a democratic election, as Andre Blais had noted, â€Å"Losers believe that even though they may have lost this time there is a real possibility that they will win another time.Because, even though they do not like the outcome, they recognize that the procedure is legitimate† (Blais 3). This raises the question under what conditions; losers peacefully accept the outcome of the election? One can argue that it is due to the fact that democracy is centered on the rule of the law as opposed to the rule of man. Democratic forms of government and political systems are structured by institutions and these institutions direct how political parties function.In example, they determine how legislation passes through parliament or when a citizen is eligible to vote. Therefore, what makes democracy unpredictable in terms of outcome is the perception that each vote counts the same since laws are submitted to all citizens a nd are protected by the constitution. But in the case of China’s authoritarian regime, as premier Li Peng put it, â€Å"to allow the demonstrating students to negotiate with party and government as equal would be to negate the leadership of the CCP and negate the entire socialist party† (Andrew Nathan 39).This makes it more likely the alteration of power in China, should it come, will occur through a rupture, since an authoritarian â€Å"regime is unwilling to relax the ban on autonomous political forces† (Nathan 39). We live in a diverse world and globalization has only made diversity within nations and states more prominent. Democracies and democratic forms of government perform a better job of administrating and managing diversity. This is best exemplify when Nathan Glazer, in the article Democracy and Deep Divides, states, â€Å"Not every democracy will succeed in dealing with its deep divides.But democracy has institutional features which offer the hope th at every part of the population will feel part of the whole† (Glazer 19). What differentiates democracy from Hitler’s anti-Semitic regime or China’s repressive government is how it deals with managing diversity. Democratic forms of government â€Å"promise to address deep divisions more successfully than any alternative†(Glazer) because there are often times characterized by their moderating power.Democracies function to maintain moderate accesses and radicalism, by adhering to norms of inclusion; this ensures citizens are included in a political process whether in terms of voting, engaging in a civil society movement , or having the rights to express ideas in terms of freedom of press and assembly. However, in a non-democratic government like China’s authoritarian regime â€Å"civil society organization and religious groups have to keep a low profile in order to avoid repression† (Nathan 38).According to Nathan’s Authoritarian Imperma nence, this is because â€Å"the regime has not become enmeshed in the logic of institutions created as safety valves to preserve its rule† (Nathan). As Andrew Nathan once remarked, â€Å"Democratic regimes, by contrast, often elicit disappointment and frustration, but they confront no rival from that outshines them in prestige. Authoritarian regimes in this sense are not forever. They live under the shadow of the future, vulnerable to existential challenges that mature democratic systems do not face† (Nathan 38).Democracy and democratic forms of government and political system have been subject to challenges of tyranny of minority, and collection. Despite the democratic weaknesses of this form of government, democracy is still highly consistent in terms of unpredictable outcomes, and managing diversity. Similar problems can be found in other regime types like China’s authoritarian regime, Hitler’s Fascist Germany, and Stalin’s totalitarian communi st regime. What differenciates democracy from other forms of government is how it deals with those problems by the help of free political parties, contested elections, and court.

Fight Club By David Fincher - 1174 Words

What defines a macho man? In the 1999 film, Fight Club, director David Fincher gives us a glimpse into the world of manhood. A man, known to viewers as the Narrator (Edward Norton) is an insomniac who seeks tranquility in support group. That is, until he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who introduces him to a new way of finding peace: fighting. The two team up and accidentally start an underground mens club called Fight Club where men are able to come and fight one another in order to leave reality behind, prove their manhood, and to simply have a little manly fun. In one of the beginning scenes of fight club, The Narrator has just recently lost his apartment to a house fire and he calls his new friend, Tyler Durden, for help. At first, the†¦show more content†¦This is portrayed in the movie with none other than the handsom Brad Pitt who, lets face it, it quite nice on the eyes. Cody L. Hobza and Aaron B. Rochlen, authors of â€Å"Gender Role Conflict, Drive for Muscularity, and the Impact of Ideal Media Portrays on Men†, researched the effects of the media s ideal man on the everyday man s self esteem and his drive for masculinity. They found that most men feel the need to conform to these social norms, even if those norms are unattainable in order to gain approval from women. Some men will even go to such lengths as engaging in an unhealthy lifestyle by working out too much or even taking steroids (Gender). Hobza and Rochlen stated that, â€Å"Considering the increased prevalence of societal messages equating masculinity with muscularity and suggestions that boys and men perceive muscularity as being strongly associated with their masculinity, men who endorse in traditional masculine ideology as evaluated by the [Gender Role Conflict Scale] may be particularly susceptible to media-based portrays of muscular men† (Gender). It is evident from this research that men try to portray themselves as a macho man in a way that is similar to that o f the media s standards, just as women do. The media also portrays men in one of two ways: a â€Å"sex-only† man or a romantic man. In their article â€Å"Heck with the Flowers and Candy- I just want Sex! Women s and