International Law

Rule of Law: The Internet and Public Pressure

By Stan

Been sitting on this issue for a couple weeks as it is not time sensitive.

Two things set me to cogitating on this recently. The first was all the ink spilled on the Green Dam web filter story, specifically how the government’s decision to pull back and not mandate that all PCs sold in China would have the web filter installed was a victory for those who spoke out against the policy. See in particular this Op/Ed in the Guardian.

Second was a thoughtful article by David Bandurski entitled “Are China’s Leaders Becoming More Responsive?”

Are China?s leaders becoming more responsive to the concerns and demands of the public? Is China, thanks to the Internet, moving toward a more ?deliberative? and participatory political culture? (China Media Project)

This is of course bundled up with my regular scribblings on the Rule of Law. There are lots of examples of public pressure on government decisions of late, from criminal prosecutions to enterprise closings to environmental problems. These are all heavily publicized and often pit the public (usually backing the “little guy” in the case) against bad actors at the local government level or executives in large companies.

This is a black and white issue, yes? Perhaps in utopia, but not in the real world.
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Full post as published by China Hearsay on August 21, 2009 (boomark / email).