Variables The Internet Users and Democracy Score - Research Paper Example

4th March Variables: The Internet Users and Democracy Score The internet has been pointed out as a major catalyst towards the killings of democracy and at the same time, promoting the very core values of democracy in the modern world. With the increasing literacy levels, the internet has been used as a stepping stone by activists who push for what is right, truth and justice to prevail and take charge. These facts have prompted the likes of Corrales (2002) to report that the internet tends to have a greater democratic impact on regime types that are formally democratic but defective in reality. According to the data in the Gapminder, it’s imperative to note that internet reception has grown over the years to be positive in line with democratic scores. MEASUREMENTS In a bid to identify the indicators of the above concepts, several measures exist on free roam and are responsible for the occurrence of the underlying concepts. These measures are referred to as democratic regulators and are dependent of the internet users. They include markets, architectures, norms and governing laws. Democratization on its own is not sufficient to inform the masses of all what happens in the establishment of internet dud but with the aid of this regulators, one is able to understand why they stand in as the best indicators of such an occurrence. Internet is where the exchange of ideas about democracy takes place and is usually stocked with a large number of interested parties who through a competitive bidding process get to enjoy the very scarce resource available. However, in the western countries, this is not the case. Not all people are interested in gaining knowledge about politics as embedded in democratic slates which tend to inform the outside world about what is really happening in a particular state. For instance like in America, a study conducted in 2002 by Scheufele and Nisbet gives statistical evidence that the internet does not really increase democracy in the super power. This was evident in the mass media broadcasting which plays a far more role in than internet in promoting democracy. Regulability is another indicator which seeks to establish the dos and don’ts of participating in activities which might compromise democracy through the use of the internet. Such cases if reported end up in the court room where the prevailing laws of the land come in handy. This might involve court jurisdiction to ensure that the legal framework is followed and adhered to. THEORETICAL ARGUMENT Internet users all over the world are guided by certain restrictions and regulations that impact the democracy score evenly across the continental divide. From this observation, it’s therefore imperative to note that the democracy score is inversely proportional to the number of internet users provided that the governing rules and regulations of internet consumption remain constant over the years. HYPOTHESIS If the rules and regulations governing internet consumption are tampered with then the democracy score levels are likely to go down. Below, is an application of the hypothesis 1. Markets regulate through the price. It’s characterized by a visible and physical monetary exchange. The cost of internet consumption for instance in Africa where most countries fall under the third world category, is extremely high. 2. A social norm is what the society or the community thinks to be right. In most cases, going against the social norms positions one as a societal outcast and is subject to rejection. It’s not imposed by the state and this means it’s not formal. 3. Architecture regulates through the physical burden it subjects to the internet users. In most of the third world countries, the development process has not been fully conceptualized. Slums are on the extreme end of capital cities and people survive in less than a dollar a day. The rate of internet consumption is still not high and democracy is in its primary stages. Information is only limited to a few number of people and the rest, the low income earners, are subjected to doctored information that is useless. Opinion leaders are left with the mandate of spreading this information, a role with which they perform with zeal and zest in propagating lies. The rules and regulations that govern internet consumption have been tightened to ensure minimal or no criticism is directed to the Government. Again, it all depends with the Government of the day. This fact compromises the spread of information to the grassroots and democracy to a large extent. ANALYSIS From the above theoretical argument, it’s imperative to note that certain factors ought to be put into consideration. These factors include internet connectivity and ignorance from the target group of people. This group of people may not be willing to use internet like in the third world countries mostly in Africa, the level of ignorance is very high. Again, internet connectivity is slow and power outages may affect any possible connections hence unreliability becomes a subject of discussion. RESULTS This theory seeks to establish a footing in the long run on the principle independent variable which forms an analysis the relationship between democracy and the independent variables. The result of this will form a multi-variate linear regression model to establish the exact number in terms of variance democratization across nations can be accounted for by the internet. Works Cited Kadushin, Charles. Understanding Social Networks: Theories, concepts, and Findings. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print. Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to lock down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin Press, 2004. Print. Read More