POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION IN ASIA

This chapter addresses two interrelated questions—how has IT changed political dynamics within the countries of the Asia-Pacific region? And how are governments using IT to govern? To answer the first, which requires investigation of political dynamics, we look largely at the “bottom-up” actions and initiatives of citizens, civil society, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and political parties, from organizing protests of government policies to overthrowing sitting regimes. In answering the second question, we will examine “top-down” initiatives of governments that use technology to deliver information and services, generally termed electronic government or e-government. The division between these two topics is not