Knowledge Societies, ICTs, and Civic Engagement

By: Joseph Isai Avendano

Information and Knowledge Society
Fall 2014
Jacobs University Bremen
Prof. Dr. Peter Ludes
Word Count: 3175

Recent years have seen a surge in the discussion of knowledge societies and information societies. This
is due to the huge rise and spread of modern ICTs, and can be exemplified by the publications released
by UNESCO, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), as well as a multitude of projects
launched by private and public actors around the globe. However, the examination of the role
knowledge plays in development has been happening since the mid-1900s, with renowned economist
F.A. Hayek publishing his article The Use of Knowledge in Society in 1945. While his writings may
not reflect the approach modern academics have looked at the knowledge society with, his key
argument lies in that knowledge is a driver of economic growth. Today, with the development of ICTs
and their prevalence, the information and knowledge society has been given a mainly positivist view;
ICTs and their application in knowledge societies hold great economic, social, and political benefits at
all levels of society. However, these benefits do not necessarily present themselves they are dependent
on the active application and participation by society. This paper will focus on the potential political
effects that ICTs and knowledge society indicators can produce that are relevant for democratic
regimes. If a knowledge society is understood to be the application of ICTs as well as make use of
knowledge for economic and social development, we can posit that there could be an effect on the
political culture of a knowledge society. For example, Pew Research has conducted a wide number of
studies on the role of online activities in the latest presidential elections in the United States (Smith,
2013). In the field of comparative politics, there have already been attempts to classify and/or compare
democracies and their performance (Putnam, 1993; Lijphart, 2012). This paper will focus on studying
the relationship between the distribution/usage of ICTs with indicators of civic engagement. Civic
engagement refers to all the the types of political action as well as membership in relevant groups and
organizations. Civic engagement itself can be said to be beneficial to the functioning of democracies
(Norris, 2004; Putnam, 1993). Therefore, if relationships are found to exist between the previously
mentioned, they hold valid implications for stakeholders and policymakers around the globe. This will
be examined by comparing outcomes across nations, as well as drawing from previous research.
Background: Civic Engagement and Democracy
In Putnam's 1993 publication Making Democracies Work, Putnam explores the relationship
between social capital and the efficiency of governance as well as economic outcomes. As it develops,
the idea that civic engagement could be a predictor of quality of democratic governance is postulated.
Civic engagement refers to the activities and membership to associations that individual citizens
partake in. The way this is measured or analyzed varies between studies as well as the focus of the
study. In this study, civic engagement refers to institutionalized forms of action and membership such

as voting or belonging to a political party or political-interest group, as well others activities that will
be discussed further on. Establishing the link between civic engagement and democratic performance
is crucial to this study as it is implied that effects of ICT usage in democratic knowledge societies have
effects on civic engagement, which should therefore be relevant for the quality of democratic
performance.
The Role of the Knowledge Society
Now the question arises that is: how does a knowledge society make use of ICTs in such a way
that it can affect civic engagement, that can then be compared versus other knowledge societies? In the
UNESCO 2013 publication authored by Robin Mansell and Gatan Tremblay Renewing the Knowledge
Societies Vision: Towards Knowledge Societies for Peace and Sustainable Development, it is claimed,
Access to knowledge implies much more than access to ICTs or digital information.
It involves learning in formal and informal educational settings and it is acquired through
experience. Knowledge is a means to achieve social and economic goals. It is essential to
cultural socialization, political participation and integration within markets. p. ii

Indeed, it is possible that the role of ICTs could be overstated when looking for certain results.
However, it is the view of this paper that the applied usage of ICTs within knowledge societies, either
on the part of individuals, groups, or governments, can lead to significant effects on political
participation and civic culture. Indeed, Norris (2004) mentions the possibility that ICTs don't
necessarily enrich or replace other assumed paths of political behavior formation, such as socialization
processes. She claims that perhaps much of the civic engagement that we find on the internet is not
because of the internet, but because these individuals already had a propensity towards their specific
political behavior. However, there are various social institutions that ICT technologies could potentially
alter, as well as the quality and nature of socialization. Therefore, it can be assumed that knowledge
societies have applied ICTs towards their civic engagement in a way that can be measured. UNESCO
holds a similar view towards ICTs in education; the potential benefits of ICTs for education rely on
high quality material, well-trained educators, infrastructure, as well as the capability to properly use
ICT resources; a knowledge society is only able to effectively change their civic culture with skilled
and well planned strategies.
How does civic culture stand to be changed by recent technological advances? Namely, we are
talking about internet usage. It is the interest of this paper to examine the impact of mixed media digital
platforms (the internet) where individuals/groups can contribute as much as they can receive, and play

roles in networks that allow for civic engagement to actually take place. Pippa Norris (2004, p. 3-7)
summarizes what she categorizes into four distinct views, that refer to the views held amongst the
public and scholars on how the internet and other ICTs stand to affect democracy and civic culture. The
first view is of the internet as an agora (in light of Ancient Greece). This extremely positivist view
holds that ICTs stand to be a center for actors from all levels of society to play an active role in policy
and decision making, as well as enrich the quality and availability of information, facilitating decision
making during elections and referenda, increasing participation and providing services for those with
difficulty of access. However, this view is viewed with discredit, as studies have shown that forums
usually reinforce values already held by individuals. Individuals access certain parts of the internet in a
fashion similar to magazine subscriptions, and the validity of the internet as place for discussion loses
credibility. A second view holds that the internet is not a free and open space that treats all users fairly.
Governments, groups, corporations, and individuals can use the internet to their gain and benefit,
reinforcing inequalities of wealth and power, and that these interests stand to corrupt the value and
potential effects ICTs could have on civic engagement in democracies, if not consequences. The third
view suggests that while ICTs could facilitate or change the political environment, it has thus far failed
to do so, positively or negatively. This view, as well as the previous two, resonate with the idea of
technological determinism. It is argued that the status quo has not changed, and that internet platforms
do not serve as a platform for democratic activities or playing a role in policy-making
The fourth and final view, as well as the view supported by this paper, is the political market
model. This view holds that the how a knowledge society affects democracy and civic engagement
depends upon the supply of information and communication provided by the various governmental and
non-governmental (businesses, media and news media, social causes) groups, and its interaction with
the demand of information and communication from the portion of the public that accesses the internet
regularly. It is extremely important to note that demographics play an important role, especially in
other, developing democracies, where the social characteristics of the internet accessing population
(usually young and educated) must be taken into consideration. Norris states,
The net effect on democracy at systemic level, the theory suggests, is that use of the
Internet in the public sphere is most likely to strengthen and reinforce cause-oriented
and civic oriented dimensions of political activism, thereby primarily benefiting new social
movements, transnational advocacy networks and loose coalitions of protest
organizations, which are more popular among the well-educated younger generation,

while having far less impact upon traditional channels... the market model suggests
that it is more sensible to identify what particular types of democratic practices
will probably be strengthened by the rise of the knowledge society,
understanding that these developments remain a work in process. - p. 6-7

Therefore political participation happens in a variety of mediums and platforms and in different
directions, with variable quality or effect on governance. However, democratic knowledge societies
have a specific demographic that stands to make use of ICTs that will benefit what Norris refers to as
cause-oriented and civic-oriented political activism, namely the younger and well-educated.
Nonetheless, traditional channels of participation will still be observed, such as voter turnout and
voting processes. However, Norris claims that voting is an act of participation that requires minimal
knowledge and effort. Notwithstanding, it is important that as much of the population as possible be
represented, as that is the basis of a representative democracy, and if ICTs can increase representation,
that would be beneficial to those would be non-voters. Campaign-oriented forms of participation
usually relate to the participation individuals usually undertaken by political parties. These could be
directly working for or supporting a party or its members. Parties themselves work with networks of
information and communication from constituents and party leaders, and facilitate voting and electoral
choices for individuals, as parties tend to represent the various socio-political groups. Cause-oriented
forms of activism relate to targeting specific issues, causes, and policies. These can present themselves
as consumer politics, protest activities, specific social cause lobbying (environmental for example),
demonstrations, petition drives, etc. These are distinct from campaign-oriented types of participation in
that cause-oriented activism does not always target specific elected representatives or parties, but
rather, perhaps the government as a whole, or corporate entities, among others. Civic-orientated
participation refers to voluntary group membership in associations that contribute to civic culture.
Some scholars disagree over which groups are relevant in this discussion, however, unions and
churches are cited by Norris as examples of groups where individuals come together. However,
different types of groups can play a bonding or bridging role; that is, some groups can reinforce
groupthink, whereas some groups can bring together diverse members of society and form networks
that further increase the ties, bond, and network of information and communication, as well as groups
dedicated to specific issues like the environment or abortion. The internet and ICTs are in a position to
effectively increase the organizational capacity as well as the information available to those individuals
that are willing to engage in the two aforementioned types of political participation, as well as the
former two, to a certain degree that will be discussed further on. It is these types of activity that will be

related to indicators of ICT usage in knowledge societies.

Pew Research (Internet Gains..., 2012) has conducted extensive research on the demographics
and activities that take place on internet platforms, namely in the United States. While the
circumstances in the United States do not reflect that in other democratic knowledge societies, the
changes between nations is what provides the ability to make conclusions on relationships. First, it is
important to see how the American public decides to inform themselves of campaigns.
Figure A

Figure B
Interestingly, all sources except Internet had
been in decline until the 2012 election, and then
all increased. However, internet as a news
source has increased the most, and seems to be
on the path to surpass all other sources of news.
This trend is extremely relevant. Figure B
records full usage. Within the year 2012, social
media as a source of news doubled, whereas all
other sources had modest increases if any, with
the exception of internet which also increased
double digits. In this sense, we can say that ICTs
not only complement traditional information

networks, but their mixed-media nature are likely to become the dominant source of news. However,
regardless of quantity, Pew found that nearly 50% named television as their most helpful source of
news, with only 17% saying the same for internet (excluding social media; 28% including all internet
sources). The internet still has much to develop if it seeks to replace television as the preferred source
of information. The focus however, is on civic engagement and political participation, and Pew (Smith,
2013) additionally provides significant findings on the topic, relevant to the United States. The research
breaks itself down, first by aggregating all civic engagement, and then begins to compare the onlineonly activities. In 2012, 42% of Americans had taken part in civic engagement activities such as
working with the community, attending political meetings for towns and schools etc., membership in
associational groups, work/volunteer for parties or politicians, and attend rallies or protests. Contacting
a politician or speaking out in pubic forums comes in at 39% and 34%, offline and online, respectively.
Most other forms of communication, petition driving, and speaking out occurs on an offline platform,
though online numbers are almost on par. Politically motivated social networking site users are also
very inclined to be involved in civic activities in offline settings. When it comes to social networking
sites, 66% of users take some form of political engagement, reflecting 39% of the adult population (p.
3).

Figure C

As can be seen from the chart above, a significant amount of SNS users utilize SNS for their political
activities. Additionally, many users say the internet and SNS cause them to seek further information on
a specific topic, and has led them to take action on causes or issues. Another interesting finding is that

class differences play and active role in predicting whether or not an individual politically participates.
In specific, those with a higher education and far more likely to engage in all forms of civic
engagement, offline and online. Applied ICT usage in the context of education could be extremely
important in shaping the civic culture of knowledge societies. The youth do have greater use of SNS,
however, for internet related activities as a whole, age related differences are not very significant. It is
also interesting to note that Pew has found that civic engagement that takes place on SNS and the
internet are growing extremely rapidly in the period they observe, 2008 to 2012. Whether these trends
will continue to increase, and if the internet as a whole can become the dominant and preferred
platform for information and communication, and civic engagement in the democratic process, is
dependent on the actors in the political market model suggested by Norris. Pew finds (Smith, 2013; p.
8) that of the 39% of politically active SNS users, 68% are likely to engage in political activities
offline, whereas the national average for all adults is 48%. 60% of political SNS users are likely to
contact elected officials via online channels, while being 34% for the national average. 53% of political
SNS users have acted via offline channels to voice their concerns, as opposed to 39% of the adult
population. In the end, most American report that conversations concerning politics still happen mainly
in person, as opposed to online. Users of the internet and SNS are more likely to take part in civic
engagement as opposed to the nation as a whole. This suggests that applied ICT usage in knowledge
societies can indeed lead to an increased civic culture. The Pew report also brings to light the
demographic characteristics such as income and ethnicity, shedding light on the fact that certain
platforms of civic engagement are only taken on by certain, usually more privileged groups of society.
Care must taken so that the diverse groups of society can all play an active role in the public sphere,
especially in extremely socially-heterogeneous developing democracies.
Norris (2004) examines data from the European Social Survey 2002 to further examine the
relationship between the internet and political participation. It is important to note that all these nations
are considered democracies by Freedom House standards, which is important for the case selection of
this comparative setting. Norris built a model that took into account as many control variable as
possible. First, internet access and usage varies quite significantly across Europe. These differences are

Figure D

what should lead us to comparative differences. Additionally, these usage numbers do not tell us
precisely how they are using the internet, but these numbers provide a basic form of measuring internet
access as a whole. Norris uses data from the ESS to build a 21 indicator political activism index to
measure civic engagement across these nations. However, she goes further, and creates a model that
attempts to take into account all factors of influence that may not relate to internet usage and control for
them. This model can be seen in the snapshot below Figure E (Norris, 2004; p. 28), giving the relevant
statistical data. The findings suggest that indeed, internet usage (as an indicator of ICT usage by
democratic knowledge societies) increase the level of political activism, namely civic activism, causeoriented activities and to a lesser degree campaign-oriented activities. Voter turnout (as measure by
eligible voters in population) however, had a very weak relationship, as expected by Norris. Overall,
the findings are significant, and find that internet usage is indeed related to civic engagement.

Figure E

The result is an adjusted R 2 = .373 for the whole model, with significant results for the IVs under
scrutiny. The results suggest democratic knowledge societies that have greater applied usage of ICTs
can expect citizens to be more politically motivated.
Conclusions
The relationships that have been posited by the paper concerning application of ICTs in democratic
knowledge societies have been confirmed by empirical research as well as other studies such as those

provided by Pew. Indeed, other factors certainly play a role, however, it seems that certain
demographics stand to utilize ICT developments for civic engagement as well as information seeking,
and that these trends seem to be increasing. Prevalence of internet usage, as well as the specific groups
using the internet and SNS, can contribute to a an engaged citizenry that would overall contribute to the
quality and nature of their democratic regimes, and can hopefully use the developments to move
towards a more horizontal organization of policy-making, while making sure to include marginalized
groups. Further research would benefit with more accurate and relevant information, such as data on
the applied usage of ICTs in education, as education presents itself as an important variable in this
paper. More recent internationally comparative data would also serve the need to observe the true
relationship between ICTs in knowledge societies and civic engagement, as well as the crucial changes
over time necessary to draw conclusions.
Bibliography and Cited Sources:

Hayek, F. A.. (1945) The Use of Knowledge in Society. American Economic Review, Vol. 35, Issue 4,
p. 519-530 1945.
Internet Gains Most as Campaign News Source but Cable TV Still Leads. (2012). Retrieved
December 18, 2014, from http://www.journalism.org/2012/10/25/social-media- doublesremains-limited/
Lijphart, Arend. (2012). Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six
Countries. 2. Edition. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Robin, M., & Gatan, T. (2013). Renewing the Knowledge Societies Vision: Towards Knowledge
Societies for Peace and Sustainable Development. Paris: UNESCO.
Norris, P. (2004). Building Knowledge Societies: The renewal of democratic practices in
knowledge societies. Retrieved December 18, 2014, from
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/pnorris/Acrobat/UNESCO Report Knowledge Societies.pdf
Putnam, R. (1993). Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press.
Smith, A. (2013). Civic Engagement in the Digital Age. Retrieved December 20, 2014, from
http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/04/25/civic-engagement-in-the-digital-age/