Democracies, Dictatorships, and Digital Technologies - The Transformations of Politics and Political Systems in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

This publication-based dissertation examines the fundamental political changes induced by the rise of digital technologies across various dimensions. In four core chapters, comprising individual research articles—some of which have already been published—the dissertation explores: (I) the political-economic dynamics underlying digital technologies that facilitate and encourage certain illiberal and authoritarian practices; (II) the political-economic dynamics of privately developed spyware and the corresponding patterns of public acquisition; (III) the transformations of authoritarian rule itself; and (IV) the transformations of democratic information environments that ultimately foster democratic decay. The major findings highlight the detrimental effects of digital technologies on democratic liberties, primarily driven and perpetuated by the business logic underlying the production and dissemination of these innovations.