Political Transformations in Network
Societies: The Internet, Power Shifts,
and the Fifth Estate
William H. Dutton
Quello Center
Michigan State University
Twitter: BiIIDutton
Presentation for CIES, University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal, 9 March
2017.

Democracy and the Internet?

Shifting Views on Political Implications

Looking Back: Power Shifts &
Computing, 1975
Social
Shaping of
Technology
and its
Implications

Internet and Democratic Power Shifts, 2005

Internet and Reinforcement Politics, 2015

Internet and Technocratic
Power Shifts, 2016

The Internet’s Use in Reconfiguring Access to:

Alternative, Empirical Perspective:
Enabling Networked Individuals

Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS)
• 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013
• Cross-sectional Surveys versus Panels
• Multi-Stage Probability Sample
• England, Scotland & Wales
• Respondents: 14 years and older
• Face-to-face Interviews, High Response Rates
• Sponsorship for 2013 from the Nominet Trust, Ofcom,
UK Research Councils, dot.rural
• Component of World Internet Project (WIP)

Quello Search Project: The Role of
Search in Shaping Political Opinion

Surveys to Focused Case Studies

Pattern of
Findings
(OxIS)

Search in
Politics
(Quello)

Critiques of Technical Perspectives

The Metaphor of a Fifth Estate
 Press since the 18th
Century - the ‘Fourth Estate’
 Internet in the 21st -
enabling a Fifth Estate
Internet enabling a critical mass of individuals to
source information and network in ways that
enhance their communicative power vis-à-vis
business, industry, government, politics &

Historical Pathways to a Fourth Estate

From Feudal Estates to the 21st
Century
Feudal Estates 21st
Century Analogies
Clergy Public Intellectuals
Nobility Business, Industry and Economic
Elites, Internet Industrial Elites
Commons Government, Politicians &
Regulators
Press Journalists and the Mass Media
Mob Mobs, but also Civil Society,
Networked Individuals

The Metaphor of a Fifth Estate
 Press since the 18th
Century - the ‘Fourth Estate’
 Internet in the 21st -
enabling a Fifth Estate
Internet enabling a critical mass of individuals to
source information and network in ways that
enhance their communicative power vis-à-vis
business, industry, government, politics &

Fifth Estate defined by being networked (beyond the home), producing content
(writing blogs, posting text and photos), sourcing (following search), collaborating
(following cues), trusting (content, providers), centrality (viewing net as essential for
information).

Networked Individuals Across Institutions
Arenas Networked
Institutions
Networked
Individuals
Health & Medical Care E-Health, emailing
safety alerts
Going to the Internet
for info; networked
physicians (Sermo)
Education Multimedia classrooms,
MOOCs
Rate my teacher; Khan
Academy, Informal
learning
Governance Cyberdemocracy, e-
Voting, e-Petitions
Anti-bribery websites;
Arab Spring; 38 Degrees
News Online journalism Citizen journalists,
bloggers, whistle-
blowers, churnalism.org

Fifth Estate as Complement v Substitute

Strategies of Networked Individuals of a Fifth Estate

Martha Payne, 9 yr old girl
writes blog for school project in
Scotland: ‘NeverSeconds’
- Produced content: photos &
reviews school lunch in 2012
- Distributed on her blog:
neverseconds.blogspot.com/
- Censored by her institution
(her primary school’s council)
-8,859,514 pages views
-Fostered debate over the
quality of school lunches
nationwide and worldwide

Strategies of Networked Individuals of a Fifth Estate

Accountability: Distributing, Leaking

Strategies of Networked Individuals of a Fifth Estate

Petition on
High Heels
Committees issue
“High Heels and
Workplace Dress
Codes”, January 25,
2017

Points of Summary and Conclusion

Back to the US Predicament

Political Transformations in Network
Societies: The Internet, Power Shifts,
and the Fifth Estate
William H. Dutton
Quello Center
Michigan State University
Presentation for CIES, University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal, 9 March
2017.