The Dictators' Digital Dilemma

The Dictators' Digital Dilemma PDF Author: Philip N. Howard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 11

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Book Description
When do governments decide to interfere with the Internet, and why? While many observers celebrate the creative use of digital media by activists and civil society leaders, there are a significant number of incidents involving government-led Internet shutdowns. Governments have offered a range of reasons for interfering with digital networks, employed many tactics, and experienced both costs and benefits in doing so.When and why do states disconnect their digital networks is a principle question that is examine in this paper. To answer this question, an event history database has been built of incidents in which a regime went beyond mere surveillance of particular websites or users, and actually disconnected Internet exchange points or blocked significant amounts of certain kinds of traffic. All in all, there were 606 unique incidents involving 99 countries since 1995: 39 percent of the incidents occurred in democracies, 6 percent occurred in emerging democracies, 52 percent occurred in authoritarian regimes, and 3 percent occurred in fragile states. The study found that overall more democracies participate in network interventions than authoritarian regimes. However, authoritarian regimes conduct shutdowns with greater frequency. After 2002, authoritarian governments clearly began using such interference as tool of governance. In recent years, even fragile states have interfered with domestic information infrastructure, usually as a last effort at maintaining social control.

The Dictators' Digital Dilemma

The Dictators' Digital Dilemma PDF Author: Philip N. Howard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 11

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Book Description
When do governments decide to interfere with the Internet, and why? While many observers celebrate the creative use of digital media by activists and civil society leaders, there are a significant number of incidents involving government-led Internet shutdowns. Governments have offered a range of reasons for interfering with digital networks, employed many tactics, and experienced both costs and benefits in doing so.When and why do states disconnect their digital networks is a principle question that is examine in this paper. To answer this question, an event history database has been built of incidents in which a regime went beyond mere surveillance of particular websites or users, and actually disconnected Internet exchange points or blocked significant amounts of certain kinds of traffic. All in all, there were 606 unique incidents involving 99 countries since 1995: 39 percent of the incidents occurred in democracies, 6 percent occurred in emerging democracies, 52 percent occurred in authoritarian regimes, and 3 percent occurred in fragile states. The study found that overall more democracies participate in network interventions than authoritarian regimes. However, authoritarian regimes conduct shutdowns with greater frequency. After 2002, authoritarian governments clearly began using such interference as tool of governance. In recent years, even fragile states have interfered with domestic information infrastructure, usually as a last effort at maintaining social control.

The Dictators' Digital Dilemma

The Dictators' Digital Dilemma PDF Author: Philip N. Howard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Broadband communication systems
Languages : en
Pages : 11

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Book Description
When do governments decide to interfere with the Internet, and why? Governments have offered a range of reasons for interfering with digital networks, employed many tactics, and experienced both costs and benefits in doing so. When and why do states disconnect their digital networks is a principle question we examine in this paper. To answer this question, we built an event history database of incidents in which a regime went beyond mere surveillance of particular websites or users, and actually disconnected Internet exchange points or blocked significant amounts of certain kinds of traffic. All in all, there were 606 unique incidents involving 99 countries since 1995: 39 percent of the incidents occurred in democracies, 6 percent occurred in emerging democracies, 52 percent occurred in authoritarian regimes, and 3 percent occurred in fragile states. Then we developed three standardized typologies for the kinds of incidents being reported. First, we developed a category that iteratively helped define the case, and a typology of actions that states take against social media. Second, we developed a category for why they took that action, sometimes relying on third-party reports if the state simply denied any interference. Finally, we developed a category for the impact of the interference. We find that overall more democracies participate in network interventions than authoritarian regimes. However, authoritarian regimes conduct shutdowns with greater frequency. After 2002, authoritarian governments clearly began using such interference as tool of governance. In recent years, even fragile states have interfered with domestic information infrastructure, usually as a last effort at maintaining social control.

The Rise of Digital Repression

The Rise of Digital Repression PDF Author: Steven Feldstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190057491
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
"A Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Book" -- dust jacket.

The Dictator's Dilemma

The Dictator's Dilemma PDF Author: Bruce Dickson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190228571
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Many observers predicted the collapse of the Chinese Communist Party following the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, and again following the serial collapse of communist regimes behind the Iron Curtain. Their prediction, however, never proved true. Despite minor setbacks, China has experienced explosive economic growth and relative political stability ever since 1989. In The Dictator's Dilemma, eminent China scholar Bruce Dickson provides a comprehensive explanation for regime's continued survival and prosperity. Dickson contends that the popular media narrative of the party's impending implosion ignores some basic facts. The regime's policies may generate resentment and protest, but the CCP still enjoys a surprisingly high level of popular support. Nor is the party is not cut off from the people it governs. It consults with a wide range of specialists, stakeholders, and members of the general public in a selective yet extensive manner. Further, it tolerates and even encourages a growing and diverse civil society, even while restricting access to it. Today, the majority of Chinese people see the regime as increasingly democratic even though it does not allow political competition and its leaders are not accountable to the electorate. In short, while the Chinese people may prefer change, they prefer that it occurs within the existing political framework. In reaching this conclusion, Dickson draws upon original public opinion surveys, interviews, and published materials to explain why there is so much popular support for the regime. This basic stability is a familiar story to China specialists, but not to those whose knowledge of contemporary China is limited to the popular media. The Dictator's Dilemma, an engaging synthesis of how the CCP rules and its future prospects, will enlighten both audiences, and will be essential for anyone interested in understanding China's increasing importance in world politics.

The Dictator's Dilemma and the Politics of Telecommunications in Cuba

The Dictator's Dilemma and the Politics of Telecommunications in Cuba PDF Author: Rachel Fredman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The concept of the "dictator's dilemma" refers to the balance between authoritarian governments' use of information communication technology for economic development with their need to control the democratizing influences of this technology. This thesis explores this concept by conducting a case study of authoritarian Cuba. It applies a modified version of the "political replacement effect" - a theory that was initially developed by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (1996), which posits that rulers only adopt technological innovation if it does not threaten their political survival - as a theoretical framework. This study analyzes technology adoption indicators and the training of information technology professionals during three time periods in Cuba (1992-1997, 2000-2005, and 2006-2011) through the lens of this framework. These time periods differ in political and economic dimensions. This thesis finds some empirical support for this theoretical framework. However, it concludes by noting the need for further exploration of how the dictator's dilemma relates to international political dynamics and the image authoritarian governments wish to project to other international actors.

Dealing with Dictators

Dealing with Dictators PDF Author: Ernest R. May
Publisher: Bcsia Studies in International
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The United States continues to proclaim its support for democracy and its opposition to tyranny, but American presidents often have supported dictators who have allied themselves with the United States. This book illustrates the chronic dilemmas inherent in US dealings with dictators under conditions of uncertainty and moral ambiguity. Dealing with Dictators offers in-depth analysis of six cases: the United States and China, 1945-1948; UN intervention in the Congo, 1960-1965; the overthrow of the Shah of Iran; US relations with the Somoza regime in Nicaragua; the fall of Marcos in the Philippines; and US policy toward Iraq, 1988-1990. The authors' fascinating and revealing accounts shed new light on critical episodes in US foreign policy and provide a basis for understanding the dilemmas that US decision makers confronted. The chapters do not focus on whether US leaders made the "right" or "wrong" decisions, but instead seek to deepen our understanding of how uncertainty permeated the process and whether decision makers and their aides asked the right questions. This approach makes the book invaluable to scholars and students of government and history, and to readers interested in the general subject of how intelligence analysis interacts with policymaking.

The Dictator's Handbook

The Dictator's Handbook PDF Author: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
Publisher: Public Affairs
ISBN: 161039044X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
Explains the theory of political survival, particularly in cases of dictators and despotic governments, arguing that political leaders seek to stay in power using any means necessary, most commonly by attending to the interests of certain coalitions.

Repression and Mobilization

Repression and Mobilization PDF Author: Christian Davenport
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 081664425X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
Introduction: repression and mobilization : insights from political science and sociology / Christian Davenport -- Protest mobilization, protest repression, and their interaction / Clark McPhail and John D. McCarthy -- Precarious regimes and matchup problems in the explanation of repressive policy / Vince Boudreau -- The dictator's dilemma / Ronald A. Francisco -- When activists ask for trouble : state-dissident interactions and the New Left cycle of resistance in the United States and Japan / Gilda Zwerman and Patricia Steinhoff -- Talking the walk : speech acts and resistance in authoritarian regimes / Hank Johnston -- Soft repression : ridicule, stigma, and silencing in gender-based movements / Myra Marx Ferree -- Repression and the public sphere : discursive opportunities for repression against the extreme right in Germany in the 1990s / Ruud Koopmans -- On the quantification of horror : notes from the field / Patrick Ball -- Repression, mobilization, and explanation / Charles Tilly -- How to organize your mechanisms : research programs, stylized facts, and historical narratives / Mark Lichbach.

The Political Economy of Dictatorship

The Political Economy of Dictatorship PDF Author: Ronald Wintrobe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521794497
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Although much of the world still lives today, as always, under dictatorship, the behaviour of these regimes and of their leaders often appears irrational and mysterious. In The Political Economy of Dictatorship, Ronald Wintrobe uses rational choice theory to model dictatorships: their strategies for accumulating power, the constraints on their behavior, and why they are often more popular than is commonly accepted. The book explores both the politics and the economics of dictatorships, and the interaction between them. The questions addressed include: What determines the repressiveness of a regime? Can political authoritarianism be 'good' for the economy? After the fall, who should be held responsible for crimes against human rights? The book contains many applications, including chapters on Nazi Germany, Soviet Communism, South Africa under apartheid, the ancient Roman Empire and Pinochet's Chile. It also provides a guide to the policies which should be followed by the democracies towards dictatorships.

Digital Dictators

Digital Dictators PDF Author: Ilan Berman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538119919
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
The 2016 elections in the United States exposed a massive campaign of subversion and interference carried out by Russia and aimed at undermining the inner workings of American democracy. But that disinformation offensive represents just one part of a larger challenge now confronting the United States - the weaponization of news and views, both real and fabricated, by repressive regimes and radical non-state actors in order to advance their strategic objectives. In this volume, leading scholars and experts chart the rise of this "authoritarian media" phenomenon and explore its implications for U.S. foreign policy and America's standing in the world.