Dolan Cummings
10th Nov 2010
Over the past generation, democracy globally has undergone two important changes; one political, and one more technical. The post-Cold War period, characterised by the steady decline of the mass movements of left and right, has coincided with the rise of information technology, most obviously in the form of the internet – itself originally a product of the Cold War race to harness computer technology, but now part of everyday life for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Much has been made in recent years of information technology’s potential to transform democracy, but too often the wider political context is neglected, leading to a one-sided focus on the technology itself. What’s missed is the fact that the demise of old certainties and traditional ways of doing politics has lead to a great deal of disorientation, both intellectual and organisational. It is tempting to see technology as a solution to problems that are really political. In the West, this has led to over-excited speculation about how Facebook, YouTube and Twitter can re-engage the electorate with politics and revitalise democracy.
The limits of this understanding are shown by the experience of Barack Obama’s election as US president. Undoubtedly the internet was the tool of choice for the “Obama movement”, with millions of young people enthusiastically campaigning online to spread Obama’s message of hope and change. Two years on, the lack of substance in that message is all too palpable, and it is the turn of the Tea Partiers to tweet and blog their discontent. Information technology makes it easy to engage quite superficially in politics, but it doesn’t provide answers to the hard questions about how to make a better society.
In the developing world, there is even more urgency around the potential and limitations of technology. In India, which is developing fast, not least thanks to its burgeoning IT sector, there are still millions of people living in absolute poverty – a desperate challenge for any democracy. IT can certainly aid development in various ways, however, as well as easing the logistics of democracy in such a populous country (India has pioneered electronic voting machines). The recently launched Unique ID scheme, Aadhaar, has been championed by Infosys Technologies co-founder Nandan Nilekani as a means of helping the poor gain access to credit and improving the efficiency of government development programmes. Nevertheless, critics worry that the scheme will undermine civil liberties and be open to corruption.
The expansion of technology certainly has the potential to strengthen democracy in India, but its implementation is shaped by existing political realities. India has been affected no less than Western countries by the political disorientation of the post-Cold War era. The secular, broadly leftist consensus that kept the Congress party in power in the decades following independence has given way to a bewildering array of competing interests, ideas and values. These are all reflected in India’s vast media, from television and newspapers to the ever-expanding blogosphere. The millions of Indians already benefiting from development have unprecedented opportunities to participate in politics in new ways, but the practical and political challenges facing Indian democracy are formidable.
Democracy is not primarily a technical matter. Facebook was never going to reinvigorate politics in the West or anywhere else. But nor should we dismiss the potential of IT as a tool for communicating and campaigning in new ways. The simple ability to compare and contrast the politics of America’s Rust Belt with those of India’s Silicon Valley allows us to deepen our understanding of our own political predicament, and to recognise what we have in common. Such an understanding will make technology all the more powerful.
Throughout October and November, The Independent Online is partnering with the Battle of Ideas festival to present a series of guest blogs from festival speakers on the key questions of our time.
Dolan Cummings is the editor of Culture Wars. He is speaking at the Battle Satellite event A new technological democracy?, organised in partnership with Landmark Bookshops, which is taking place on Tuesday 23 November at Landmark Bookshop, Apex Plaza, Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai, India.
Much has been made in recent years of information technology’s potential to transform democracy, but too often the wider political context is neglected, leading to a one-sided focus on the technology itself. What’s missed is the fact that the demise of old certainties and traditional ways of doing politics has lead to a great deal of disorientation, both intellectual and organisational. It is tempting to see technology as a solution to problems that are really political. In the West, this has led to over-excited speculation about how Facebook, YouTube and Twitter can re-engage the electorate with politics and revitalise democracy.
The limits of this understanding are shown by the experience of Barack Obama’s election as US president. Undoubtedly the internet was the tool of choice for the “Obama movement”, with millions of young people enthusiastically campaigning online to spread Obama’s message of hope and change. Two years on, the lack of substance in that message is all too palpable, and it is the turn of the Tea Partiers to tweet and blog their discontent. Information technology makes it easy to engage quite superficially in politics, but it doesn’t provide answers to the hard questions about how to make a better society.
In the developing world, there is even more urgency around the potential and limitations of technology. In India, which is developing fast, not least thanks to its burgeoning IT sector, there are still millions of people living in absolute poverty – a desperate challenge for any democracy. IT can certainly aid development in various ways, however, as well as easing the logistics of democracy in such a populous country (India has pioneered electronic voting machines). The recently launched Unique ID scheme, Aadhaar, has been championed by Infosys Technologies co-founder Nandan Nilekani as a means of helping the poor gain access to credit and improving the efficiency of government development programmes. Nevertheless, critics worry that the scheme will undermine civil liberties and be open to corruption.
The expansion of technology certainly has the potential to strengthen democracy in India, but its implementation is shaped by existing political realities. India has been affected no less than Western countries by the political disorientation of the post-Cold War era. The secular, broadly leftist consensus that kept the Congress party in power in the decades following independence has given way to a bewildering array of competing interests, ideas and values. These are all reflected in India’s vast media, from television and newspapers to the ever-expanding blogosphere. The millions of Indians already benefiting from development have unprecedented opportunities to participate in politics in new ways, but the practical and political challenges facing Indian democracy are formidable.
Democracy is not primarily a technical matter. Facebook was never going to reinvigorate politics in the West or anywhere else. But nor should we dismiss the potential of IT as a tool for communicating and campaigning in new ways. The simple ability to compare and contrast the politics of America’s Rust Belt with those of India’s Silicon Valley allows us to deepen our understanding of our own political predicament, and to recognise what we have in common. Such an understanding will make technology all the more powerful.
Throughout October and November, The Independent Online is partnering with the Battle of Ideas festival to present a series of guest blogs from festival speakers on the key questions of our time.
Dolan Cummings is the editor of Culture Wars. He is speaking at the Battle Satellite event A new technological democracy?, organised in partnership with Landmark Bookshops, which is taking place on Tuesday 23 November at Landmark Bookshop, Apex Plaza, Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai, India.
