Communication and Democracy: Coincident Revolutions and the Emergent Dictators

Cover: Communication and Democracy: Coincident Revolutions and the Emergent Dictators

Protecting and expanding democracy around the globe is a perennial national security interest for the United States. A standard vehicle for democratization has been economic development. Another factor which stimulates both democratization and economic growth, namely access to information, could be consistent with the historically strong statistical correlation between democracy and development and might also help explain some of the recent unprecedented political changes. This study addresses the relationship between democracy and the new communication media by applying theory and data analysis to the task. The author concludes that one cannot reject a hypothesis that democracy and networked communication are positively correlated.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web-Only
  • Pages: 120
  • Document Number: RGSD-127
  • Year: 1997
  • Series: Dissertations

Contents

  • Preface HTML

  • Figures and Tables HTML

  • Abstract HTML

  • Acknowledgments HTML

  • Chapter One

    Introduction: Coincident Revolutions HTML

  • Chapter Two

    The Case of the Soviet Union: The Dictator's Dilemma HTML

  • Chapter Three

    Qualitative Comparisons: A Brave New World or New World Order? HTML

  • Chapter Four

    Quantitative Analyses: The Empty Corner HTML

  • Chapter Five

    Implications for Policy: Communicating Democracy HTML

  • Appendix A

    Data HTML

  • Bibliography HTML

This report is part of the RAND Corporation dissertation series. PRGS dissertations are produced by graduate fellows of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, the world's leading producer of Ph.D.'s in policy analysis. The dissertations are supervised, reviewed, and approved by a PRGS faculty committee overseeing each dissertation.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

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