Misinformed Democratization
example citation [@krycho:revelation:2015, ¶6]
Examples of the misatribution of liberalization to democratization
Democracy can be defined as:
A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.
After this definition, the meaning is distorted
To put it more simply, democratic governments answer to their citizens. Through voting, people frame the institutions that govern them. But democracy doesn’t only apply to governments, it can occur in groups or organizations. In this context, democracy means that everyone in the group is treated equally and has equal rights, and that the group is controlled by the majority of its members. For example, you and some friends could decide to model your book club on democracy. (But if you are picky about what you read, you may want to consider totalitarianism.) …with very few exceptions (mostly in Holland), they [early European newspapers] never reported any news about the country in which they were printed. Print shops were tightly regulated; in most countries they required government licenses to print; and they could be quickly shut down if they printed anything that offended the authorities.
The writer mourns the privatization of what was always private became controlled by “public/private” partnerships governed by the government through agencies such as the FCC and BBC.
Is Publishing Democratic? But the publishing process itself was not democratic, becoming even less so over time. Newspaper owners amassed wealth and power, and the most wealthy were able to buy their competitors. The market becoming ever more concentrated and competition from television only exacerbated this. For most people, this meant fewer and fewer opportunities to participate.
The History of the Democratization of Publishing | @thetorquemag Citing a line from A History of News | Mitchell Stephens
Democratization of technology refers to the process by which access to technology rapidly continues to become more accessible to more people.
On Wikipedia, the switch is made right at the outset. Democracy is claimed to be the process by which technology is rapidly made accessible to more people.
Wikipedia continues to describe the process of “democratization”:
New technologies and improved user experiences have empowered those outside of the technical industry to access and use technological products and services. At an increasing scale, consumers have greater access to use and purchase technologically sophisticated products, as well as to participate meaningfully in the development of these products. Industry innovation and user demand have been associated with more affordable, user-friendly products. This is an ongoing process, beginning with the development of mass production and increasing dramatically as digitization became commonplace.