ABSTRACT

A world of universal democracy would not be a perfect world. Many democracies would no doubt still be illiberal, but the framework of democracy and an open society would generate public pressure to gradually move them in a more liberal direction. Liberal democracies need to stand up energetically for Internet access and freedom, and defend the users of liberation technology. Postconflict interventions constitute only a small slice of international efforts to promote democracy. In the quest to control corruption and achieve greater accountability and transparency, democracy can be a vital resource. Democracy does not eliminate all forms of corruption and injustice. Over the past decade, democratic civil societies have increasingly utilized information and communication technology to perform many of the above functions for democracy. Democracy provides citizens the freedom to expose and denounce unjust and unwise policies. It gives them the institutional tools to bring about change.