Page 266 - Information and American Democracy Technology in the Evolution of Political Power

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Dahl’s Equality Proposition
audience. The other is the political psychology of the individual, which
is dominated by semiattentiveness and an orientation toward entertain-
ment over information and learning. It is now more clear than ever that
the power of these politicoeconomic and politicopsychological features
of the previous information regime will limit fragmentation and devel-
opment of individualized spheres of political information as the fourth
information revolution develops. The tension between the dynamics of
the third and fourth information regimes promises to be one of the major
features of political communication for years to come.
These connections across time between the evolution of media tech-
nology and the structure of the public sphere endorse one of the basic
claims of post–World War II sociology and philosophy of technology.
The indisputably progressive nature of technology toward more speed,
power, and efficiency does not in and of itself signal social or politi-
cal progress. A society using technology that is technically “better” than
what went before may or may not be a society that is itself better, judged
against any particular normative conception of the good. Clearly, the
contemporary information revolution is unleashing technology that is
technically superior to that of prior regimes. This technology and its ef-
fects on the structure of information and political interests promise to
enhance as well as undermine various features of American democracy,
and only time will tell the outcome.

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