Networks and Democracy

Article: Networks and Democracy. It Ain't Necessarily So. Joan Roelofs (Keene State College, joan.roelofs@verizon.net). American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 52, No. 7, 990-1005 (2009)

URL = http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/52/7/990

Abstract

"Networks may appear to enhance democracy and abolish hierarchy, yet their many undemocratic implications are rarely examined. To quote Zbigniew Brzezinski, they "obscure asymmetries of power and influence." The people's voice is attenuated by silent partners in organizations and public institutions. The networks examined include public-private partnerships, informal summitry, stakeholder conferences, client-patron relationships and interlocking directorates. Participants in network governance include citizens, non -governmental organizations, political parties, governments, inter-governmental organizations, private profit making corporations and non-profit corporations, especially foundations. We maintain that some participants in network governance are vastly more powerful than others. As for "civil society" organizations, support from corporate or private foundations is essential to almost all civil rights, social justice or environmental organizations that wish to be viable and visible; the funders exert control in many ways. Freedom of speech and association, surely requisites for democracy, are thereby diminished, as the beneficiaries are compelled to self-censorship." (http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/52/7/990)