ABSTRACT

Coincident revolutions in the 1980s- breakouts of democracy around the world and breakthroughs in the communication and information technologies-have inspired the notion that democratic freedom and electronic network interconnectivity might be positively correlated. This study begins the analytic task to explore the empirical relationship between democratization and network interconnectivity. Despite the inherent limitations of statistical analyses, every different analytic perspective engaged in this study coherently and repeatedly emphasized two important observations. First, interconnectivity consistently emerged as a powerful predictor of democracy. Second, none of the traditional variables which measure and guide foreign assistance policies with respect to promoting democracy seem to cause the desired effect. Considered together, these conclusions have important implications for policy, particularly regarding the priority of programs which support and stimulate international interconnectivity. network