The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Information Technology and Democratic Values

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Summary

This paper addresses some possible impacts of information technology (IT) on democracy, as well as the shaping of IT by social practice. The authors begin by describing their point of departure: a wide conception of democracy that tries to guarantee citizen participation in the democratic process. This concept is connected to the following 5 values:

  1. Public deliberation - democracy favours talk - conversation, reciprocal understanding, tolerance, and respect for others - instead of violence.
  2. Autonomy - realised when a person has the possibilities to rationally form his or her life, while having access to necessary information for making those decisions.
  3. Freedom of thought - must be balanced against the values of respect and tolerance linked to public deliberation.
  4. Freedom of speech - citizens' right to give voice to their thoughts and opinions - free exchange of information is a prerequisite for well informed citizens.
  5. Equality - (at least adult members of) a population must have equal opportunities to take part in the democratic process.

Having established this framework, the authors explore, from a theoretical point of view, the relation between technology and values. Here, they indicate that "technology is a potential means for enhancing democracy...as a means for mediate information. On the other hand, IT can also be implemented in ways that is threatening both public deliberation and the realisation of democratic values in a specific cultural setting...[T]here may even be a "bias" in the design that is contrary to some democratic values. For instance, communication between equals, presupposes tolerance, time and willingness to listen to the other person, i.e. democratic communication is something different and more than just an exchange of information and opinions."


In this context, the authors illustrate the impact of IT using 2 examples: the introduction of IT in school and the Global Information Infrastructure (GII). In both cases, they argue that IT has the potential to both enhance and hinder the realisation of democratic values. For instance, with regard to the school setting, the authors identify the following potential benefits - and possible unintended consequences of each:

  • IT could help disseminate information necessary for students to be able to form opinions on various societal questions...but students may lack the training needed to develop the skill of deciphering the value and quality of different kinds of information - "Information that has different quality is brought into the democratic process and compared and used without necessary distinctions"
  • IT could enable the creation of student discussion boards...but "If computers favour isolation, public deliberation requires the coming together of people. One could even ask if understanding, tolerance and respect is possible in a deeper sense without physical contact"
  • IT could be used to create opinion polls among students...but IT has enabled polls to support the stating of opinions without requiring argument or the taking of responsibility for voting: "Speed and simplicity is replacing reflection and public deliberation"

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