J. J.Linz

J. J.Rousseau

J.Schumpeter

M.Foucault

M.Olson

M.Polito

M.Weber

R.Dahl

R.Pildes

S.Huntington

The relationship between citizens and their states is omnipresent: even in the most authoritarian or totalitarian regimes there is always some interaction between the government and its society. The advent and widespread use of modern digital communications has added new instruments through which all sectors of society, especially the least represented, can make their voices heard. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a theoretical base for analyzing how citizens and government interact in the age of digital communications. Dictatorships rely on performance and resort to violence to obtain support. Leaders in democracies can usually rely on the principles of the regime itself and governmental procedures or popular elections. The legitimacy brought by policy efficiency can support despotic governments over time. Lack of controls over the actions of a ruler exposes the whole polity to the risk of abuse of power and deterioration of the people's liberty. Digital communication tools arise as new channels for governments to promote their views to the people, convincing them of their policies' usefulness and value; monitor the population's activities in support or against the government; and block information contrary to the interests of the government, the dictator, or the ruling elite. The population too can use the new digital interfaces to obtain information, share approval or discontent with others, organize protests or support. The traditional mechanisms of democracy to provide legitimacy to the regimes are deeply impacted by the new communication technologies. </jats:p

Diogo Santos

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Interactions between the Governed and Their Governments

Interactions between the Governed and Their Governments

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