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    "Living Among His People" Internet Access and Political Stability in Authoritarian Regimes

    Cover for "Living Among His People" Internet Access and Political Stability in Authoritarian Regimes
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    View/Open: AbuJawdeh_georgetown_0076M_12217.pdf (9.4MB) Bookview

    Creator
    Abu-Jawdeh, Malek
    Advisor
    Kern, Andreas T
    Abstract
    This study aims to analyze the relationship between Internet access and political stability in authoritarian regimes. Internet access has been argued to both overcome certain barriers to collective action and significantly reduce the cost of monitoring and identifying dissidents. Contrary to prior research, I hypothesize that a non-linear relationship exists between Internet access and regime stability. By applying fixed effects regression models with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors to a panel of 183 countries between 1990 and 2010, my research extends on previous studies that limit their samples to incidents where information technology has had an obvious role in democratic transition or suppression. The results of this analysis suggest that political stability initially decreases in authoritarian regimes, but, once a threshold of about 9 subscribers per 100 citizens is reached, dictators are able to take advantage of the information shared by a growing proportion of their citizens with Internet access to enhance stability. While the Internet has undoubtedly had a notable impact on relations between citizens and their governments, we must be wary of misguided policies that regard the Internet as an indisputable tool with which to topple repressive regimes.
    Description
    M.P.P.
    Permanent Link
    http://hdl.handle.net/10822/558656
    Date Published
    2013
    Subject
    authoritarian; collective action; Internet; political stability; revolution; social media; Public policy; Political Science; Middle East; Research; Public policy; Political Science; Middle Eastern studies;
    Type
    thesis
    Publisher
    Georgetown University
    Extent
    56 leaves
    Collections
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Public Policy
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    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2022 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility