Thèses sur le sujet « Information technology – Political aspects – Tunisia »

Comparative studies of democratization point to a multitude of explanatory factors, while often lacking empirical evidence and theoretical foundation. This study introduces the revolution in information technology as a significant contributor to democratization in the 1980s and beyond. Utilizing a cybernetic version of an evolutionary interpretation of democratization an amended model for 147 countries is tested by bivariate and multiple regression analysis. The focus of the analysis is on how the first-ever use of an indicator of information technology explains democratization. The overall findings show that information technology is a meaningful element in the study of democratization today.

A sophisticated and high tech form of state-to-foreign population diplomacy based on the use of the latest communication technologies has developed rapidly in recent years and has acquired an increasingly important position within a significant number of foreign affairs systems. Pioneered by the heavyweights of the international stage, the phenomenon has spread rapidly to secondary powers and is progressively extending itself to varying degrees to all states around the globe. This thesis grapples with the enigma raised by the brisk re-emergence of this foreign policy concentration by attempting to understand the reasons behind both the quantitative increase in public diplomacy activities and the qualitative evolution of these activities in terms of planning, organisation and implementation. The first argument that this thesis broaches is that the sudden growth of public diplomacy is the result of the shift to a new phase of the information revolution (necessary enabling force) which has been amplified by contingent factors: the explosion of global terrorism (accelerator) and the perception of leaders and foreign policy makers of this new environment (prism). The second argument is that, beyond quantitative growth, the new operational context born of the advent of the global information society provoked a qualitative evolution of the public diplomacy inherited from the Cold War towards what is today mass diplomacy. The result is the appearance of a market driven diplomacy employing persuasive techniques borrowed from the world of public relations and marketing. The new diplomacy is an entrepreneurial diplomacy that limits governmental leadership to a necessary minimum and encourages the participation of private and foreign sub-contractors. It is also a cyber-space diplomacy equipped with new diplomatic instruments such as high-resolution satellite imagery, high-speed networks, digital broadcasting and other marvels of the late twentieth cen

La société de l’information déstabilise-t-elle l’Etat-Nation ?

Analyse comparative du développement des nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication dans l’âge de la mondialisation

Partant du constat que le concept “Société de l’Information” est souvent utilisé dans des contextes et des situations très différents, qui ne présentent guère de traits communs, ce travail abouti à une interprétation de ce concept, qui permette de la redimensionner au lieu d’en faire un mythe, comme cela arrive trop souvent. La “Société de l’Information”, malgré son rôle innovant et unificateur qui outrepasse même les barrières étatiques, est confrontée au poids de l’Etat-Nation dans sa conception la plus restrictive.

Nous considérons cette analyse comme une réflexion nécessaire dans une période où le défi technologique est particulièrement chargé d’un rôle politique.
Doctorat en sciences politiques
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This body of work is a post modern analysis of how the shift from mass to me media influences the role and structure of the media. Was McLuhan right, is the medium increasingly the message? Or is the post-modern media a totally different animal, a manifestation of popular culture and marketing rather than the socially responsible institution responsible for safeguarding democracy that it was envisioned to be by the American founding fathers? The underlying theme is the convergence of media and marketing and the resulting conglomeration and technological dependency forced on the reader and the writer. Who are the new mediators and how do they manage the media? In the mediatrix, the readers become media managers and the writers become surfers. The analysis begins with an examination of the contrast between real and virtual communities and how the media bridges this information gap. How does reporting in virtuality reflect reality? The body of the study has three parts, the shift from mass to me media, the alternative media spheres it has engendered and the controlling forces behind this transition. Throughout the study, mass media and me media are contrasted. The study ends with a look at the impact of technology .andpopular culture on the South African media and how the media will click through the future. Will the deeply entrenched communal values of ubuntu stave off the individualisation cocooning brings? That is, will the I before we focus of personalised media nurture the South African democracy or will itfoster mediocracy?
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die volgende tesis is n omskrywing van hoe die beweging van die massa-media na die ek-media die rol en die struktuur van die media beinvloed. Was McLuhan korrek, is die medium dikwels doe boodskap? Of is die post-moderne media n totale ander gedierte? n Manifestasie van die populere kultuur en bemarking, eerder as die sosiale verantwoordelike instituut verantwoordelik vir die behoud van demokrasie soos dit gevisualiseer is deur die Amerikaanse voorvaders? Die onderliggende tema is die bymekaarvoeging van media en bemarking en die konglomerasie en tegnologiese verantwoordelikheid geplaas op die leser en skrywer. Wie is die nuwe tussengangers en hoe bestuur hulle die media? In die "mediatrix" word die leser die media bestuurder en die skrywer word die net-sweefer. Die analise begin met die ondersoek na die kontras ussen egte en virtuele gemeenskappe en hoe die media hierdie informasie gaping oorbrug. Hoe word realiteit beinvloed deur rapportering in virtualiteit? Die liggam van die studie bestaan uit drie dele - die skuifvan massa-media na ek-media, die alternatiewe media sfere wat dit vorm, en, die beheerende invloede agter die transformasie. Reg deur die studie word die massa -media en die ek-media gekontrasteer. Die studie eindig met n opsomming van die impak wat tegnologie en populere kultuur op die SA mark het en hoe die media sal saamstem in die toekoms. Sal die diepere gelee gemeenskapswaardes van ubuntu die individualisme wat "cocooning" meebring afskiet. Sal die ek voor die ons van verpersoonlikte media die SA demokrasie aanhelp of medioker maak.
rs201512

Defence date: 8 May 2017
Examining Board: Professor Hanspeter Kriesi, European University Institute (Supervisor); Professor Olivier Roy, European University Institute; Professor Fiona B. Adamson, SOAS University of London; Professor Alexandra Segerberg, Stockholm University
The spread of the internet and migration are key dimensions associated with globalization and range among the most salient challenges of our times. Looking at the intersection of these two phenomena, this dissertation explores how the internet enables citizens of non-democracies living abroad to partake in the political discourse and online campaigns in their home countries. How does the fact of living in non-authoritarian countries affect the migrant’s position inside their online community? Using concepts from the contentious politics literature, I examine why migrant netizens adopt different roles in online campaigns in the years leading to and during the Arab uprisings at the examples of Tunisia and Morocco. I draw upon multiple empirical strategies including an analysis of web crawls of the Tunisian and Moroccan blogospheres, in-depth interviews with a number of key actors and frame analysis. I find that migrants were among the pioneers of political blogging, are well-integrated in their respective blogosphere and often occupy central positions. Political opportunity structures matter, thus the relative absence of repression allows migrants to act as radical mobilizers in highly repressive regimes like Tunisia. In contrast to that, migrant netizens in slightly more liberal settings like Morocco are less of a driving force than an equal partner in online discussions and campaigns, even if they might provide additional resources and establish contacts with international actors. Finally, the frame analysis reveals that radical migrant bloggers are likely to suffer from a lack of credibility due to their relative immunity to repression, unless they adapt their frames to the concerns of the wider blogger community, thereby enabling the creation of a broad coalition.

This thesis examines the effects of internet use on Australian citizens' propensity to participate in political activity. The study applies the 'civic voluntarism' model of political participation to the Australian case, theorising that internet use comprises a resource. It hypothesises that participation in Australia is a factor of an individual's free time, time spent using the internet, money, civic skills, internet-related skills, recruitment and engagement. Australia is an appropriate case study due to its institutional and cultural similarities with other advanced democracies, as well as its notable differences. Voting is compulsory for Australian citizens, and they are compelled to vote frequently and in complex systems. Previous research has found that compulsory voting has positive effects on participation between elections, as well as on the stability of the country's political parties. Australians have ample opportunity to participate in politics. The thesis analyses 2010 (and earlier) Australian Election Study data, supplemented by data from previous Australian Election Studies, the World Values Survey and Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. Descriptive, logistic regression and ordinary least squares regression analyses find that internet use leads to participation earlier in life than would occur otherwise, but that participants possess the high socioeconomic status of participants in other advanced democracies. Skills are particularly important: across a range of behaviours including electoral, campaign, communal and protest participation, the positive influence of internet proficiency over time spent online is evident. However, the determinants vary greatly between types of participatory act, revealing lowered costs of entry, and opportunities for low-resourced citizens to equip themselves to participate. The findings have implications for understanding how the internet impacts the changing face of participation in Australia, how citizens can be mobilised in the future and the prognosis for the health of Australia's participatory democracy.

This dissertation examines significant shifts in the politics of psychiatric resistance and mental health activism that have appeared in the past decade. This new wave of resistance has emerged against the backdrop of an increasingly expansive diagnostic/treatment paradigm, and within the context of activist ideologies that can be traced through the veins of broader trends in social movements. In contrast to earlier generations of consumer/survivor/ex-patient activists, many of whom dogmatically challenged the existence of mental illness, the emerging wave of mad activists are demanding a voice in the production of psychiatric knowledge and greater control over the narration of their own identities. After years as a participant-observer at a leading radical mental health advocacy organization, The Icarus Project, I present an ethnography of conflicts at sites including Occupy Wall Street and the DSM-5 protests at the 2012 American Psychiatric Association conference. These studies bring this shift into focus, demonstrate how non-credentialed stakeholders continue to be silenced and marginalized, and help us understand the complex ideas these activists are expressing. This new wave of resistance emerged amidst a revolution in communication technologies, and throughout the dissertation I consider how activists are utilizing communications tools, and the ways in which their politics of resistance resonate deeply with the communicative modalities and cultural practices across the web. Finally, this project concludes with an analysis of psychiatry’s current state and probable trajectories, and provides recommendations for applying the lessons from the movement towards greater emancipation and empowerment.

Despite the pervasiveness of the Internet and its importance to a wide range of state functions, we still have little understanding of the implications of this technology for power in the context of International Relations. The Internet has led to a power paradox which forms the central 'puzzle' of this research project. President Obama has described as "the great irony of our Information Age" the fact that those states which have most successfully adopted and exploited the opportunities afforded by the Internet are also most vulnerable to the threats which accompany it. Power enhancing outcomes such as economic growth, and public diplomacy have to be balanced against the theft of intellectual property and attacks on critical infrastructure. No previous technology has been regarded concurrently as a source of power and vulnerability in quite the way that the Internet has. Existing International Relations theories of power, developed in the context of industrial technology, have struggled to incorporate the complexities of the Internet. For much of the 20th century, scholars of International Relations have regarded technology as a constitutive and material element of state power. An understanding of technology as an exogenous factor which impacts upon power and produces universal effects regardless of political context is a conception which misses as much as it reveals in the analysis of power in the information age. This thesis combines the Philosophy of Technology with theories about power from International Relations in order to build a conceptual framework for the study of state power in the information age. It utilises this framework for the study of how conceptions of US power have shaped and influenced three aspects of Internet technology; cyber security, Internet governance and network neutrality. In doing so, the study produces a set of findings which contribute some forward momentum to the stalled debates in International Relations about whether the Internet enhances state power more than it undermines it. The thesis clearly demonstrates that political decisions about technology have directly and profoundly influenced the way the Internet has developed that they have ongoing implications for how the power to control information is distributed. In addition, it was found that US politicians engage with multiple conceptions of power when they debate Internet technology. These conceptions of power can lead to contradictory policy implications and when they do, the decisions that politicians make about whether to privilege material power or social power lead to insights about how they expect US power to function in the information age. Finally, authority and legitimacy were found to be important factors in the exercise of power in this context but significantly, a sense of political authority was often absent in debates about Internet technology policy. These findings underscore the arguments running through this thesis. First, that the implications of the Internet for state power cannot be understood without deeply engaging in the political context in which they are situated and second, that the relationship between power and information technology differs qualitatively from the relationship between power and industrial technology.

This study explored how social media are setting the agenda of the traditional media and re-defining the role of the journalists. Content analysis was done to analyse the coverage of Jacob Zuma stories in newspapers and on Facebook, from the 1st of February until the 30th of June 2018.The sample for the study was drawn from three local newspapers, the Citizen, the Sowetan, the NewAge (AfroVoice), as well as the Facebook page called #Zumamustfall. This was done to determine if newspapers which are traditional media were being influenced by social media in what stories to report on. Results from the study showed that social media are influential in building an agenda for the traditional media and in particular, with the Zuma story. In the same vein, it emerged that traditional and social media set the agenda for each other. Based on these findings the research recommends that other social media sites including Twitter be used in similar research to determine their effects on agenda setting of traditional media (newspapers).
Communication Science
M.A. (Communication Science)