Technology and Democracy

"'Invent the printing press and democracy is inevitable.' Add to this: Invent the railway, the telegraph, mass manufacture and concentration of population in urban centers, and some form of democratic government, is, humanly speaking, inevitable" (Dewey 110).

Add to that: TV, cell phones, texting, Facebook, MySpace, blogging, and Twitter.

I think democracy has increased even more with the development of social networking sites and other forms of communication. If Dewey thought information traveled quickly through the telegraph, I'm sure he would probably pass out after seeing how viral all those texts about donating to Haiti became in a short amount of time. News travels faster now, and people have more and quicker access to information.

"Our modern state-unity is due to the consequences of technology employed so as to facilitate the rapid and easy circulation of opinions and information, and so as to generate constant and intricate interaction far beyond the limits of face-to-face communities" (Dewey 114).

We are unified with people all across the world because of Facebook, etc. This forms new communities, and the chance for the opinions of others.

Thinking of this makes me wonder what would've happened had Sarah Palin had been running on the ticket with John McCain before SNL. I think Tina Fey and the SNL team played a large role in sinking Sarah Palin. Those videos were shared after broadcast on Facebook and blogs across the country. Sure, her faux pas would have been printed in national newspapers, but many people wouldn't have had access to that information for days or weeks afterwards.

My point in all of this is that democracy has increased because of technology - like Dewey suggested.