Interconnectivity positively correlates with democracy at high levels of significance … Smaller size and greater interconnectivity may similarly be conducive to democracy by facilitating coordinated civic action.
Predictor: Kedzie, Christopher
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 research presentation, Christopher Kedzie, then a doctoral fellow at RAND Graduate School, discussed democracy and new technologies. Prior to his arrival at RAND, he was a founder and director of organizations in both Ukraine and Uzbekistan which exploited information technologies to support economic and political reform. He writes: ”Interconnectivity positively correlates with democracy at high levels of significance … Smaller size and greater interconnectivity may similarly be conducive to democracy by facilitating coordinated civic action. Although perhaps cliche, the often-repeated analogy that information revolution technologies are shrinking the world offers appropriate insight. Interestingly, the most populous country that Freedom House labels as completely ‘free’ became a democracy in 1776, when its population was only a fraction of its current size. At that time, at that size, available communication technologies, such as pamphleteering, were sufficient to gel public support into popular action.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Global Relationships/Politics
Subtopic: Democracy
Name of publication: RAND publications online
Title, headline, chapter name: International Implications for Global Democratization
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.isoc.org/HMP/PAPER/134/html/paper.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney