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Introduction
The aspects of digital democracy reveal the statement that the World Wide Web is the most tolerable sphere of relations. Originally, people are free to express their thoughts and considerations on the internet, and some researchers regard it as the way to control citizens, by letting them express all their moods in some unrestricted area. Originally, digital democracy is regarded as the process of governing local communities, and for the strict control of the moods and processes within the society, thus, e-democracy and digital democracy may be the effective control tool.
The aim of this paper is to research the matters of the internet, and the particular aspects of digital life, such as digital democracy, blogging, social networks and “net neutrality” in general, and compare the widely spread theoretic considerations on this aspect with the considerations by classical theorists like Marx, Engels, Nietzsche or Du Bois.
Internet as the Democratic Tool
The key aim of digital democracy as the control tool is to unite the most active citizens and participants of the discussion in a single place. Thus, blogs, communities, social networks, etc are the perfect tools for collecting the wide database of citizens. Surely, the government needs to apply certain efforts for maintaining the necessary democracy and freedom levels, thus, the government aims to develop publicly accessed platforms. Originally, as it is stated by Dizard (236):
Social networking and the internet, in general, is an emerging area for e-democracy, as well as related technological developments, such as argument maps and eventually, the semantic web. Those are seen as important stepping-stones in the maturation of free society. The social networking entry point, for example, is within the citizens’ environment, and the engagement is on the citizens’ terms. Proponents of e-government perceive government use of social networks as a medium to help the government act more like the public it serves.
The examples of such governmental networks are numerous. On the one hand, they are used for collecting the comments and opinions of the citizens, on the other hand, they may be used for tracing the IPs of the citizens, and locating the further we surfing of these users. This may be helpful for preventing terroristic activity, organized crime and other harmful affairs.
Global Networking from the Perspectives of Political Theory
Considering the theoretical aspects of internet activity (freedom of speech in general), it should be emphasized that even the most ancient concepts of democracy presupposed the existence of public places for expressing the political and social considerations of the citizens. Originally, these concepts were stated in Pluto’s republic and presupposed the opportunity for everyone to state his or her considerations, or dissatisfaction with the existing political regime. On the one hand, it was the freedom of speech; on the other hand, as it was stated by Machiavelli, this could be a trap, as the seeming freedom of speech could be the way of taking into consideration active citizens, for the further location of the centers of possible revolt.
Internet, from the perspective of political theory, is a powerful communication tool, which is used by numerous stratum of the population in various aims. Considering the statements by Marx, including neo-Marxism approaches, these factors of free internet communication promote the development of the “global village concept”. This Concept may be regarded as the feature of the entire digital global communication tendency. Thus, the concept of global village presupposes that the information is spread with immense speed along with the whole world, and, staying somewhere in John o’Groats in northern Scotland, and follow the events in Cape Town, for instance. The Internet provides the opportunity of observing the entire world, and leave feedback on any event and process.
Originally, this concept is similar to Marx’s concept of world revolution, and the followers of Marxism and neo-Marxism often regard the internet, and the concept of the global village as the important instrument for the proletariat revolution, as this would allow people to unite and coordinate their forces for the global revolution against the world capitalism and exploitation of the working class.
Additionally, it should be emphasized that the values of the traditional proletariat struggle may be explained by the necessity to unite the working class of the whole world. Thus, digital democracy provides people with such an opportunity, and the global village concept, which might be helpful for the world proletariat is the product of a capitalistic world.
As for the matters of globalization in general, these aspects are described neither by Nietzsche nor by Marx and Engels, let alone Du Bios. Nevertheless, Wallerstein, and his world-system analysis of neo-Marxist theory, emphasize the necessity of globalization for the unification of the efforts. Originally, the benefits of globalization are used by the “Center” States for exploiting the “Periphery” and “Semi-Periphery” states, nevertheless, the lower classes may unite for the joint efforts of becoming the centers of their own world-system regions.
Considering the political theory and the considerations by various political theorists, it should be emphasized that considerations by William Edward Burghardt Du Bois are the closest to the matters of digital democracy and democracy in general. Originally, as a civil rights activist, he claimed for the necessity of the citizens to express their opinions and moods openly for they could control the performance of the governments, and discuss their possible dissatisfactions. Moreover, the internet is often used as a tool of self-expression, as it provides freedom of communication and freedom of speech for everyone.
Additionally, the governments would have the opportunity of getting feedback from the people. Moreover, the hotbeds of political decease and terroristic activities could be found easier if people have a place to express their feelings and thoughts. He claimed nothing on the matters of communication technologies, nevertheless, it should be emphasized that the ICT are of high value for arranging and informing citizens.
These may be used for expanding and improving the active participation of the citizens in the social, political and economic life of a State, thus, encouraging the government to perform more active steps for governing the main spheres of State life. Additionally, the ICT offers citizens an opportunity to work out particular cultural codes and tendencies in order to present the joint reaction to the government’s actions. Thus, in accordance with his considerations on the matters of democracy, the following statement by Du Bois should be emphasized (in Rudwick, 139):
We call these the seeds of Living Democracy. By Living Democracy we mean democracy as a way of life; democracy as a culture; democracy as a set of expectations and practices that become part of our blood, part of our instinct for how to behave. This is certainly a long-term understanding of social change, but it’s also one in which each of us can find a place for ourselves, no matter whether we’re a teacher, an engineer, a student, or a political figure. Each of us has a role to play in a Living Democracy; we do not have to be an officeholder to help create this culture.
The fact is that Du Bois was claiming on the matters of civil freedoms and opportunities. In addition, the given statement directly relates the aspects of the freedom of speech and the opportunities of free reaction of the citizens for the governmental actions. Considering the specification of the theory by Du Bois, it should be stated that the main focus of his considerations related to the aspects of race and ethnicity, as the epoch, he lived in, was featured by the extensive civil rights campaigns, associated with the discrimination of African American population in the USA. Thus, the possibility of expressing the thoughts and considerations was of particular importance and Du Bois would be glad to see the opportunities of the digital democracy.
Conclusion
The development of the cyber world has promoted the appearance of such aspects as digital democracy and the global village. On the one hand, these aspects are the products of the virtual world, on the other hand, these are the real tools of political activity and the instruments of controlling the processes and events in the world. In accordance with the theoretical considerations by Du Bois, digital democracy is an important tool for the development of the civil rights of the population. As for the global village, the followers of Marxist views would appreciate it as the tool of uniting the efforts of the world proletariat.
Works Cited
Dizard, Wilson. Digital Diplomacy: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Information Age. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.
Rudwick, Elliott M. W. E. B. Du Bois a Study in Minority Group Leadership. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006.
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